Before Dawn
by The Otaku With Hazel Eyes
Summary: Why should the Straw Hats hog all the glory? Have a look into the past hijinks and memories of Erity, Yari, Runo, Vaughan, Siobhan, and my other OCS that occurred before the events of Tomorrow's Romance Dawn! (Current Story: The Gift That Keeps On Giving)
1. The Blood and the Gauntlet Prologue

**Title:** The Blood and the Gauntlet **  
Rating:** T **  
Characters:** Erity, Enoch Vaughan, and others **  
Summary:** Enoch Vaughan and Erity of the Carrion Bounty Hunters. They insult each other, argue with each other, fight each other... and may even be best friends. How did such a relationship start? Well, it began with a strange island, a huge bounty, an incredibly flamboyant pirate captain, and just a little bit of understanding...

* * *

 ** _Prologue_**

* * *

 **Time: Two weeks prior to the events of _TRD  
_** **Location: Aboard the _Silverback,_ in the harbor of Sienna Island**

It was quite a sight to behold. The enormous deck of the Silverback was filled with nearly every bounty hunter in the Carrion Bounty Hunters. This sea of humanity (and the occasional fishman) was cheering and hollering, surrounding three people standing in a marked ring. The first two were Enoch Vaughan and Erity, the first and second lieutenants respectively. They stood at opposite sides of the ring, both in battle stances. The third person there was Baba Runo, who was standing in the center of the ring like some kind of referee.

"Ladies and gentleman!" Runo announced, holding his arms up in the air. He smirked. "And Yari."

"Grow up!" Baba Yari snapped at her brother from her spot in the crowd.

"Never!" He retorted before going back to the crowd. "Welcome to the Silverback's First Annual Lieutenant Face-Off! In this corner, standing at 5 feet and 11 inches tall and weighing in at 145 pounds, we have our first lieutenant! The Blood King, the Blood-Manipulation Man, the Rhetorical Blunder... _Enoch Vaughan_!"

The women in the crowd began screaming joyously, while Vaughan winced at the sound. It was times like these that made him glad he swore off the fairer sex.

"And in _this_ corner!" Runo went on, gesturing to Erity. "Standing at 6 feet and 1 inch tall and weighing in at-"

A black slipper flew at his head, which he narrowly dodged. He rolled his eyes, picked up the shoe, and tossed it back to Erity before continuing.

"... We have our second lieutenant! The Lady of Gauntlets, Master of Six Powers, the Irrepressible Whiner... _Erity_!"

Several men hooted, to which Erity flashed them a rude gesture. This led to some booing, but she ignored them. Filthy pigs.

"The rules are simple!" Runo shouted. "This is to be a battle of strength and hand-to-hand combat! No weapons, no devil fruit powers, and no Armament Haki! Or in Erity's case, just no weapons."

Several of the hunters chuckled at Runo's joke. Erity simply scowled. Vaughan smirked at her expense.

"The fight will go on until one combatant either surrenders or is unable to continue. I _would_ say I want this to be a clean fight, but where's the fun in that? In terms of dirty fighting, anything goes! Just try not to damage the ship, because let's face it- Carrion would kill us. Are we clear?"

"We _could_ have done this on the beach!" Yari reminded everyone. "You do realize that, right?!"

She was ignored. Erity and Vaughan nodded in agreement to Runo's rules.

Runo grinned. "Great. Now-"

" _123FIGHT_!" Yari interrupted.

Runo slumped in depression. "Sis, you stole my thun-"

He was once again interrupted, this time by two punches to the face that had come so fast that not even his Haki could have reacted in time.

"OUTTA THE WAY!" Erity and Vaughan howled.

Runo went tumbling into the crowd, landing next to his sister. Yari paid him no mind, despite the fact he was unconscious, and went on reading the novel she had been perusing before she'd caused her brother's harsh treatment.

With Runo 'outta the way', Vaughan and Erity had turned their attacks on each other. Erity was unleashing a barrage of kicks aimed towards her opponent's sternum. Vaughan, in turn, was meeting each kick with his forearm, blocking the assault. Erity then used her next kick to move Vaughan's arm and allow her to punch at his chest. Vaughan caught her fist and pushed her back. Erity then kicked at him with her leg and when he dodged, she did a backflip and landed a solid kick on his chest as she came down.

"Erity lands the first solid strike!" Yari announced.

While on recoil, Vaughan lunged forward jabbed his elbow into Erity's stomach, then proceeded to kick her to the other side of the ring when she hunched forward. She didn't fall over- instead she skidded on her feet and when she stopped, she kicked out her leg.

" _Rankyaku!_ " she called out.

Vaughan easily avoided the flying slash attack. Runo's rules didn't allow Armament Haki, but Observation Haki was fair game. The Tempest Kick, thankfully, was also avoided by the crowd and it harmlessly landed in the sea. It did tear up the the rail though.

"WATCH IT!" the other hunters hollered.

"Sorry!" Erity apologized. "Didn't mean to damage the ship!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT WE MEANT!"

Erity snickered, only to received a punch to the jaw from Vaughan. She retaliated with a side-kick, but Vaughan jumped back and took a defensive stance.

"OW!" Erity yelled. "What the heck, Vaughan?! I was talking! At least give me a second to put up Iron Body!"

"Runo said anything goes. You have _no_ right to complain," Vaughan said with a drawl.

She humphed. "Still, I never took you for the type to suckerpunch a lady."

"I'm not," he admitted. He glanced at the tattoo on her arm. "There just isn't one in front of me."

Erity's expression went from annoyed to furious. " _Soru!_ "

It was only thanks to his Haki that Vaughan was able to meet her next attack- a jab to his neck. He leaned backward as far as his spine would allow, then spun on his right foot while his left knee was raised. It met with Erity's side and felt as if it had been rammed into solid steel.

"Holy-!" Vaughan bit off a curse.

" _Tekkai_ ," Erity said teasingly.

"I'll get back at you for that someday," Vaughan grunted. "But for now..."

Vaughan jumped back and then lept forward as high as he could. Before Erity could react, he wrapped both his legs around her neck and twisted his body, sending them both tumbling to the crowd _hard_. And wouldn't you know it, she had just took down her Iron Body.

"Oooh!" the crowd winced in sympathy. Was Erity okay after that?

"Gah- YOU SON OF A WHORE!" Erity cursed loudly.

She was fine.

Vaughan, who was now sitting on her stomach and pinning her down, crossed his arms. "Is that any way to speak of a man's saintly late mother? For your information, she was an apothecary and _incredibly_ faithful to her husband."

"YOU ARE AN OVERLY LITERAL JACKASS, ENOCH! GET OFF ME!"

Vaughan just laughed.

Erity scowled, trying to push Vaughan off. "What's so funny?"

"You said the exact same thing to me the first time we fought," Vaughan replied, smiling. "Remember that?"

Erity smirked. "I do. Do _you_ remember what happened _afterwards_?"

Before Vaughan could respond, Erity had wrapped her own legs around his neck from behind. With a powerful heave she threw him off, and in the split second he was airborne she lifted herself up on one hand and drove her foot into his spine.

The men in the crowd cheered, while the women cried out in concern to their revered first lieutenant. Yari looked up briefly from her book to observe before looking away. Runo... was still out cold.

Vaughan landed on his stomach, twitching in pain briefly. "That was... different... than before..."

Erity stood up and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Of course. Last time I threw you into a boulder. Hard to find one of those at sea."

Vaughan recovered and jumped back into action. The two hunters began to rapidly punch at each other, only to repeatedly block the other's hit.

"You know, didn't we promise to have a rematch someday after that?!" Vaughan shouted, not breaking his barrage.

"This doesn't count! You're not allowed to use any of the abilities that made you such a pain in the ass back then!" Erity hollered back, not slowing down either.

"Not much has changed! You're still a gender-confused old hag!"

"And you're still a blood-thirsty arrogant brat!"

They jumped apart to opposite sides of not just the ring, but the whole deck. They shoved lackeys out of the way to do it, and said lackeys had the sense to keep the paths open. One could almost feel the aura the two gave off, as if their wills to fight were trying to leap forward and attack all on their own. For a Haki user such as Vaughan it wasn't so surprising, but for a nonuser like Erity it was pretty impressive.

"Want to ditch the rules and get serious?" Vaughan called out, holding out a fist.

"It _is_ a pain to hold back," Erity admitted. "What about the ship?"

"We're in port."

"Okay then."

Out of nowhere, Erity pulled out her gauntlets and slipped them on, taking a battle stance. Vaughan took one as well, only he coated his fists in black Haki armor.

Yari came to attention, dropping her book. "No, stop! The ship cannot take an all-out battle royale between the two of you!"

Her pleas went unheard. Both letting loose a battle cry, Erity and Vaughan charged at full throttle at each other, fists reared back.

They reentered the ring...

... punched outward...

... and...

* * *

 **Time: A year and a half prior to the events of** ** _TRD  
_** **Location: Aboard the _Golden Marmoset_ , the waters outside of Darwin Island, New World**

"Land, ho!" the lookout cried down to the crew.

A figure in a dark hooded cloak stepped calmly out on deck, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the other ship-goers. He looked towards the helmsman (who doubled as a navigator), a man with a startling number of tattoos.

"Oakes!" he shouted. "What island is this?!"

"It's the Island of Abnormality- Darwin Island!" Oakes answered.

He grinned, removing his hood. He was a young man with cropped black hair- a lightning bolt shape shaved into the left side above his ear- with pale skin, red eyes, and a curved scar on his right cheek. He wore silver stud earrings and a gold medallion around his neck.

"Abnormality, eh? Considering this is the New World, that's saying something," Enoch Vaughan drawled. He grinned. "I have a _good_ feeling about this place."

 _"Blood King" Enoch Vaughan_

 _Second in Command of the (Recently Formed) Carrion Bounty Hunters_

 _(Age: 26)_

* * *

 **Location: The Lucky Penny Tavern, Darwin Island**

Bar fights were not wholly uncommon, no matter where in the world you went. Men being sent flying through the tavern doors and through a brick wall on the other hand... while not unheard of, it wasn't an everyday event. So when one such man soared through the doors of the Lucky Penny Tavern and crashed into the brick walls of the building across the street, it got more than a few stares.

"Holy crap, did you see that?!" one bystander yelled.

A crowd formed around the man, and gasps only got louder when they saw who it was. It was a rather handsome man in a now torn black dress suit who was bleeding profusely from the nose and the various cuts on his body.

"Wait, isn't that 'Black Orchid' Presley?" a woman recognized. "He's the first mate of the White Rose Pirates!"

"He has a bounty of 160 million!" the woman's boyfriend added. "Who could take someone like that down so easily?!"

"Who, you ask? How about the lovely young maiden whose ass he groped?"

The crowd turned around at the silky woman's voice. Stepping gracefully through the crowd was a tall woman in her late 20s, with teal eyes and blond hair cut into a short floppy mohawk that had two locks falling in front of her ears. She wore a long sleeved dark blue cheongsam that ended just below her thighs. It had wide gaps in the shoulders, a bubble pattern on the front, and a small Criminal logo on one sleeve. On her feet she wore black ballet flats. What truly stuck out on her person was the pair of metal gauntlets strapped into her waist.

She sauntered up to Presley and lifted him by the shirt, shoving him into the wall. He was awake now and looked upon her in fear.

"But I suppose it worked out. I had no idea you were the Black Orchid," Erity said with a falsely sweet smile. "Now, be a gentleman and tell me where I can find your captain. I have pressing business with him."

 _Erity_

 _Rookie Bounty Hunter in the New World_

 _(Age: 27?)_

* * *

 **Read and Review, please!**

 _Runo slumped in depression. "Sis, you stole my thun-"_

I brought back the "Runo gets depressed when his thunder is stolen" gag! I haven't used this since "Operation SAVE THE FUTURE and Other Machinations!"

 _"I'll get back at you for that someday," Vaughan grunted._

He does. If you recall in "Finding the Rainbow Connection", Vaughan hardens his blood as Erity kicks him, causing a similar event to occur.

 _He looked towards the helmsman/navigator, a man with a startling number of tattoos._

 _"Oakes!" he shouted. "What island is this?!"_

Remember Tattoos, the guy that was hypnotized into "silencing" himself? Finally gave him a name, and I named him after the second Tattooed Man from DC Comics, John Oakes.


	2. The Blood and the Gauntlet Part 1

**_Part 1_**

* * *

 **Time: A year and a half prior to the events of** ** _TRD  
_** **Location: Aboard the _Golden Marmoset_ , port of Darwin Island, New World**

For a place that was known as "the Island of Abnormality", Vaughan had to admit Darwin Island looked kind of boring, at least from the ship. The little port and the town that came with it resembled any other port and town one would find in the Blues.

Did that mean he was going to underestimate what the island could throw at him? Hell no. That was a rookie mistake, and one did not survive three months in the New World by making rookie mistakes. Vaughan wasn't nearly that stupid.

"Vaughan. There you are."

Vaughan groaned internally. _Speaking of stupid..._

He turned and plastered a realistic smile on his face. "Boss Carrion! Just the man I wanted to see!"

Ex-Rear Admiral Savage Carrion (yes, his name was that unfortunate) and his personal assistant, Saffron, stood before the younger man. Saffron looked as deadpan as ever, and Carrion had a vaguely amused smirk displayed.

"Is that so? I was about to say the same thing," Carrion said, lighting a cigar. He took a couple puffs before continuing. "What do you need?"

"Not that I don't appreciate visiting new islands, but may I inquire why we're stopping at this one?" Vaughan asked. "I was led to believe we were heading straight to the island of Rose Quartz."

"We were, until one of my contacts called me on my personal Den Den," the boss replied. "Apparently a rather prominent pirate crew has taken residence here, and their captain has quite the bounty. I figured you could track him down while the rest of the crew focuses on restocking some of our supplies. The extra cash could come in handy."

"Must be a big bounty if you're willing to go off course. How much is it?"

"370 million berris."

Vaughan whistled. "Nice. I'll look into it. So, why did you want to see me?"

Carrion's smirk vanished and he crossed his arms. "It's about why we want to go Rose Quartz. You said you knew the owner of the shipwright company there, right?"

Vaughan dimly remembered saying that. With the crew expanding the way it was, Carrion had decided they were going to need a bigger ship to replace the Golden Marmoset. Since they had been in the New World at the time, going all the way back to Water 7 wasn't practical. That meant they had to go to Rose Quartz, which held one of- if not _thee_ \- best shipyards in the New World. When Saffron had brought it up, Vaughan had mentioned he knew the owner, Hilde.

He only hoped Hilde wasn't still mad at him, because that would make getting the ship a tad difficult.

"Yeah, I said that. What of it?"

"I called the number you gave me to tell Ms. Hilde we were coming, but when I mentioned your name... she... um..."

"She referred to you with a startling number of expletives and told us to start collecting bounties like crazy, because she was going to bleed us dry for this," Saffron supplied in her usual boring voice. "She also told us to remind you that you still owe her a favor and that she will collect when you least expect it."

Vaughan winced. O-kay, she _was_ still mad. Dang it.

Carrion raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

The red-eyed man rubbed the back of his neck. "I should've have warned you. That extra cash _is_ going to come in handy- Hilde's a shark."

"I can tell, considering how much she's planning to charge us," Carrion agreed.

Vaughan shook his head. "No, no, I mean she's an actual shark. To be specific, she's an ill-tempered tiger shark fishwoman." He looked away in embarrassment. "An ill-tempered tiger shark fishwoman who is _extremely_ overprotective of her youngest sister, who just happens to be a red snapper mermaid, who _I_ just happened to use to date."

Carrion and Saffron stared at him as the implications of this revelation sunk in.

"And that is why I can never, ever return to Fishman Island," Vaughan sighed. He turned and jumped onto the railing. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have filthy pirates to hunt down and ex-girlfriends' homicidal sisters to not think about. See you later."

Vaughan jumped off the railing and onto the dock, pulling up his hood and taking off running as soon as he landed. Carrion and Saffron watched this in silence for a few seconds.

"... That would explain why he refused to leave the ship when we made a pit-stop there three months ago," Saffron noted.

"Vaughan has no idea how to make women happy. I could give him pointers- I know exactly what it takes to satisfy the fairer sex," Carrion said sagely. He frowned. "Although I have been divorced six times..."

Saffron adjusted her glasses. "You contradicted yourself again, sir."

"... How long do you think it will be before Vaughan realizes we never told him what pirate crew to be on the look out for?"

"There is is a 90% chance it will be soon."

"That doesn't tell me anything!"

* * *

If you wanted to be on Vaughan's good side, there were three things (formerly four things) you were never to bring up with him:

1.) The scar on his face.

2.) What training under Garp was like.

3.) The island of Kāla (this one was no longer on the list for obvious reasons).

4.) ANY OF HIS PAST GIRLFRIENDS.

Vaughan groaned to himself, pulling his hood a little farther over his face as he strode through the small town. There was a reason he had sworn off women altogether- the first being they distracted him from his mission, and the second being he was simply no good with them. No matter how hard he tried, every relationship he'd ever had ended up crashing and burning. And his exes' families _never let him forget it._ Hilde was one of the more extreme cases, but the rest were all still pretty bad. Shakky hadn't been wrong- he was pretty sure he owed "favors" to over half the fathers and older siblings in Paradise.

... Dear lord, he missed having Shakky to complain to. She had always been easy to talk to, even about tough subjects. He really couldn't do that with the lackeys, Saffron, or (ew) Carrion. Sure, Shakky didn't always _listen_ , but she pretended to and that was more than anyone else had done since _Bhanu._ Not that Bhanu did much listening either. He mostly just told Vaughan to shut up and practice his forms until he didn't have enough moisture in his body to sweat anymore.

... Why did he look up to that guy again? And now that he thought about it, Bhanu hadn't been all that great with women either. Maybe it was the whole not-listening thing. That must have rubbed off on Vaughan.

... Shakky would have found that hilarious.

 _... Wow, I am lonely,_ Vaughan thought. He shook his head violently. _This is pathetic! I didn't put myself on this path to make friends or find love!_ _I did it to find Kāla and finally,_ finally _put an end to all..._ this _! Now I have a job to do and I don't have time to reminisce. Enough thinking about the past! No more thinking about my ex-girlfriends, about Shakky, about Bhanu! I need to focus on finding-_

Vaughan stopped striding, paused, then slapped his forehead.

"I forgot to ask Carrion what pirate crew I'm supposed to be looking for, didn't I?" he asked aloud.

Well, there was no way he was going to call Carrion on his baby den den and ask. The man would undoubtedly rub in his air-headed moment. Vaughan took a quick scan of his surroundings, then caught sight of a tavern. He smiled. Taverns were always great places to glean information from.

As he approached it, he took notice of the bar's front doors. They looked like they had been kicked down, and several employees were trying to fix them. He also noticed the wall of the building across the street had a huge crater in it and red stains that he could detect were blood.

 _I don't want to know,_ he thought, sweatdropping.

Vaughan approached the men trying to fix the tavern entrance, lowering his hood. "Good morning, gentleman. Can you spare a moment of your time?"

They gave him puzzled glances, but one stopped working to talk to him. "I guess so. What can we do for you?"

"If you can't tell, I am a bounty hunter by trade," Vaughan began to explain. "I heard from my boss that there was a prominent pirate crew in port here, but he neglected to tell me which one. If one of you could tell me, it would be greatly appreciated."

The man gave Vaughan a long look before sighing tiredly. "That's the second time today. Why is that crew so popular lately?"

Vaughan raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"You aren't the first person who's wanted to know about that pirate crew today," one of the other employees piped up. "About an hour ago some blonde lady hunter asked the barkeeper here where she could the find the crew. Then that crew's first mate, who happened to be buying drinks, came up behind her and copped a feel."

"I've never seen a woman kick a grown man through a door before," the third employee said with wonder. "It was something else."

"Trust me, they're more common than you think," Vaughan said, thinking back to all the strong women he knew. _That explains the crater and the blood._ _If this was an hour ago, then this lady isn't from my crew. It sounds like I may have some competition, if she was able to handle a first mate that easily. I'd better catch up._ "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her. Now, which crew is it that has gathered such rapt attention?"

The first man crossed his arms. "I'm surprised you don't know- they're pretty active in these parts. Everyone knows to be on the look out for the White Rose Pirates."

Upon hearing the name of the crew, Vaughan could have sworn his heart stopped.

- _his house was burning, burning-_

 _-it hurt, the pain was unbearable-_

 _"- No! Stop it! Leave him alone!-'"_

 _\- blood, blood was everywhere, why was there_ so much _of it-_

 _-blood, always blood,_ why _wouldn't it go away-_

"Hey, buddy, snap out of it!"

Vaughan shook himself out of... whatever _that_ had been. The bar employees were studying him with concern in their eyes.

"Are you okay? You looked like you were about to have a seizure," the second man asked worriedly.

Vaughan smiled uneasily. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. The White Rose Pirates, right? Do you know where they are, because I didn't see any jolly rogers back at the port."

"Uh, sure," the first man said. "If we go by what we overheard that blonde lady beat out of Black Orchid Presley, they've docked their ship on the other side of the island. The only way to get there from here is either by ship or through the forest."

Vaughan closed his eyes and reached out with his Haki- sure enough, he could detect some human 'voices' on the opposite end of Darwin Island. He was too far away though to get anything specific.

Given who he was trying to 'hear,' this was probably for the best.

"Well, I know for a fact my boss isn't going to want to move the ship, so the forest it is," Vaughan decided. He pulled up his hood and began to walk away. "Thank you for your information. Goodbye."

"Careful out there!" the tavern men called after him. "That forest is the reason the island is called 'the Island of Abnormality!'"

Vaughan stopped to give them a reassuring smirk, waving at them in acknowledgement. But as soon as he looked away and resumed his strode, the red-eyed man's expression became as hard as stone.

 _The White Rose Pirates, eh?_ he thought. _So much for not thinking about the past._

The stoniness melted away into determination.

 _Still, I was never one to shy away from opportunity. Let's see if I can make this work in my favor._

* * *

 **Location: Forest of Darwin Island**

For a forest that had supposedly given Darwin Island its title as "the Island of Abnormality", Erity had to admit, so far she was kind of disappointed. In the hour she had been traveling through it there had been nothing to indicate it was anything more than a normal woodland area. Only trees, rocks, more trees, and the occasional bush. She was currently standing next to a small lake with a medium-sized waterfall pouring into it. It was the perfect picture of serenity.

Did that mean she was going to let her guard down? Hell no. People didn't give islands titles for no reason in the New World. (Except for Styxus, the Island of Perpetual Suffering. She'd been there once and it was actually really nice. She had no idea how it got that name.) If this island was known for being abnormal, she was fully prepared for an armageddon of weirdness to break out.

But for now, she had other concerns. The waterfall, for instance. While pretty, this was the _third_ time she had come across it.

"Oh wow, the forest waterfall!" she said with mock wonder. "I haven't been here in over- I don't know- _fifteen minutes_! Glad to see the old place hasn't changed!"

"Sarcasm is really unbecoming of a lady, I hope you realize," Black Orchid Presley sniffed.

Erity smiled sweetly. "While I'm flattered you referred to me as a lady, let's not forget who's wearing the pants in this relationship."

"It would have been _me_ ," Presley ground out. "If you hadn't TAKEN MINE OFF AND USED THEM TO TIE ME UP!"

Erity rolled her eyes, dropping him unceremoniously on the ground. What did he want her to do? His pants and his jacket had been made out of Herculean Silkworm silk. That stuff was notoriously tough fabric, and way stronger than any stupid ropes. He should've been more appreciative that she had taken the time to turn them into bonds. Not to mention he had some humiliation coming, what with how he felt her up.

Besides, it wasn't as if he was the only one suffering. She was the one who had to see him in his underwear (the man wore briefs- what a dork).

"Nobody likes a whiner," Erity scolded with _no_ hint of irony. "The only reason I didn't beat you unconscious was so you could lead me to your ship and captain, since I obviously don't trust the instructions you gave me. Continue to lead me in circles, and I may rectify that. Do you want that?"

Presley flinched but remained firm. "You _must_ be new at this if you think I'm going to betray Captain Eriks that easily. Pirates would rather die than do that."

"Which pirate crews have _you_ been hanging out with?" Erity deadpanned. "I can literally think of only five crews that would actually do that, and one of them broke up six months ago."

"Well, now it is _six_ crews," Presley said smugly. "I would rather be a festering corpse than willingly aid a bounty hunter."

Erity shrugged. "Suit yourself."

The pirate blinked. "Wait, what- ARGHHH!"

Presley's own self-interruption was a result of Erity kicking him in the stomach and into a nearby tree. She walked up to him and lifted him by the shirt.

"Little known fact about me- I used to be in a profession that required me to know torture tactics. I haven't had any _need_ to use them in recent years, nor do I actually _want_ to use them. However, if you continue to act so difficult, I might be inclined to change my mind."

"You're bluffing," Presley declared, sweating heavily.

Erity raised her free gauntlet-covered hand, the claws of the armor glinting in the sunlight. "Am I? You willing to bet your life on that?"

Presley gulped heavily.

"Oi, oi, no need to get so serious. I know the World Government doesn't care what condition they're in, but the bounty does drop if you kill him. Death tends to be a side effect of torture."

Erity and Presley looked up to see a cloaked figure sitting in the branches above. The figure jumped down the tree, landing at the edge of the little lake. He removed his hood.

"You wouldn't happen to be the scary blonde bounty hunter I've heard about, would you?" Vaughan asked.

Erity stared at him for a long time before she dropped Presley and took a fighting stance. "A cute vampire cornering me in the woods? Those smarmy teen vampire romance novels were _right_!"

"One- I'm not a vampire. That's you being prejudiced about my appearance," Vaughan corrected. "Two- I'm not cute. Three- you actually _read_ those?"

Erity blushed and crossed her arms, looking away. "That's beside the point. Who the heck are you?"

"Ah, where are my manners," Vaughan said. "My name is Enoch Vaughan, bounty hunter. And you are?"

"Erity," she replied plainly. "Also a bounty hunter. What do you want?"

"The same thing as you, apparently. Word around the island is you're after the White Rose Pirates, and it just so happens that I'm after them as well."

"You don't say. And you came all the way out here to tell me that?"

"Hardly. You're welcome to Black Orchid, since you took him down yourself, but I'm going to have to insist that you leave the captain to me."

"Oh? And why would I do that? Just because I'm new at this doesn't mean I can't handle it."

"I'm sure you can. Not just anyone can't take down a man worth 160 million with only one kick. But since you're just starting out, here's some advice- don't go after the big guns right off the bat. Unless you have prior experience with pirate scum, it's better to work your way up it to the higher tier."

"Gosh, I had no idea the infamous Bloodbath Vaughan was so condescending," Erity taunted. "Disappointment abounds."

Vaughan raised an eyebrow. "'Bloodbath', huh? Haven't been called that in awhile. You _do_ know who I am then?"

"Your reputation precedes you, Enoch Vaughan," Erity admitted flippantly. "I've never met someone with so many different epithets. Bloodbath, Blood King..." She smirked. "... the Crimson Heartbreaker."

To Vaughan's credit, he didn't react to that beyond a vein pulsing on his forehead. "... Where did you hear that?"

"From this lovely mermaid I met on Fishman island named Mika," Erity answered. "We both griped about ex-boyfriends for awhile. She ranted for an hour about how you dumped her-"

"Hey, that was a mutual break-up," Vaughan argued forcefully.

" _Sure_ it was. _Men_ ," Erity scoffed, strolling up to him. "So freaking clueless. It makes me glad I'm not one."

"Shut up. We're not here to discuss my incredibly dismal love life, we're here to call dibs on a pirate's bounty," Vaughan growled. He smirked and raised one hand. "Here's me doing it; I call dibs on White Rose Eriks!"

"You can't call dibs, I didn't even know we were doing that!" Erity argued. She jabbed her thumb at her chest. "I was here first, so if anyone should have dibs it's me!"

The argument was becoming quite childish. The two bounty hunters were glaring at each other and were practically nose to nose.

"Too late. I already called it."

"Only because I didn't know we were officially calling dibs! I want a do-over!"

"You can't do-over dibs. It doesn't work like that."

"Says who? I don't recall the Five Elder Stars crowning you King of the Dibs."

"Says me for starters, and even if that were a thing, it would probably be a Celestial Dragon. They have dibs on everything at birth."

"True. That being said, I still say we have a do-over."

"No way! You already have Black Orchid, stop being so greedy!"

"I didn't know he _was_ Black Orchid when I kicked his ass, so- where's Black Orchid?"

Erity had looked over her shoulder while speaking, only to see that the man in question was gone. The makeshift bonds he had been wrapped in laid in a heap at the bottom of the tree.

"Crap, he's loose!" Erity shouted.

"You let your capture escape?" Vaughan asked incredulously. "You _are_ new at this."

"Shut up, Enoch! You distracted me!"

"Don't snap at me just because you goofed."

"YES! I GOOFED!" Erity shouted shrilly. "Since you're the big-shot experienced bounty hunter, hows about you help me find him?!"

"Fine." Vaughan gave the area a customary glance, then pointed up. "He's up there."

Erity looked to where he was pointing, and sure enough, there stood Presley at the top of the waterfall.

"Speedy son of a bitch, isn't he?" Vaughan commented, looking up as well and shielding his eyes from the sun.

"GET BACK HERE, PRESLEY!" Erity shrieked.

"Never! I escaped fair and square, you harlot!" Presley shouted back. "You were so busy with your petty squabble that you did not notice me wriggling out of my bonds! What did you expect me to do?"

"For one thing, put your pants back on after you got free!" Vaughan called up. "Why didn't you?"

Presley pursed his lips, then shook his head. "Never mind that! I am free and I will take immense pleasure in telling my captain that two bounty hunters are coming after his head! But first, Ms. Erity, allow me to show you why I kept taking you back to this lake!"

With a wide grin, Presley kicked a large rock into the lake below.

Erity crouched down. "Shows what he knows- heights aren't a problem for me. I'll be up there in no-"

"We need to run," Vaughan said suddenly, grabbing her arm and making her stand.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because of _that._ "

On the word _that_ , out of the lake rose a legion of what only could be described as floating piranhas- floating, with no wings or anything to keep them up.

Erity's eye twitched. "What. The. Hell."

"Not gonna lie- that's pretty abnormal," Vaughan noted.

The piranhas all hissed, showing off their teeth.

"RUN!" Erity hollered, turning tail and doing just that.

"Excellent idea! Why didn't _I_ think of that?!" Vaughan agreed, joining her.

The pair ran back into the forest, the floating piranhas at their heels (they were surprisingly fast). They ran past a series of bushes, and the piranhas were joined by floating rabbits. They then passed a small river with otters. The otters saw the chase, rose into the air, and joined in with ferocious growls.

Now that they were thinking about it, they were pretty sure some of those bushes were floating and coming after them too.

And the chipmunks.

Also those seals. Where did the seals come from?!

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Vaughan muttered when he looked back to see the veritable army of floating animals gunning for them.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS ISLAND?!" Erity demanded to know.

Thus the two bounty hunters continued their mad dash through the woods. It would not end for some time and all the while they both thought the same thing:

 _When I get out of this, this moron and I are going to have_ words _._

* * *

 **Read and Review, please!**

 _Ex-Rear Admiral Savage Carrion (yes, his name was that unfortunate) and his personal assistant, Saffron, stood before the younger man._

Carrion's surname comes from Thomas S. Savage, the man who discovered gorillas. Carrion's ship in the main story is The Silverback (silverback gorilla) and it's figurehead is a snarling gorilla.

 _Vaughan shook his head. "No, no, I mean she's an actual shark. To be specific, she's an ill-tempered tiger shark fishwoman." He looked away in embarrassment. "An ill-tempered tiger shark fishwoman who is extremely overprotective of her youngest sister, who just happens to be a red snapper mermaid, who I just happened to use to date."_

This part may seem random, but it's not. This actually will come up in the fic I have planned called "No Strings." That angry tiger shark fishwoman will be a character in it.

 _If this island was known for being abnormal, she was fully prepared for an armageddon of weirdness to break out._

So... a Weirdmageddon?

 _"Oh wow, the forest waterfall!" she said with mock wonder. "I haven't been here in over- I don't know- fifteen minutes! Glad to see the old place hasn't changed!"_

If the style of this joke is familiar, I based it off one I heard in Sword Art Online Abridged.

 _"Which pirate crews have you been hanging out with?" Erity deadpanned. "I can literally think of only five crews that would actually do that, and one of them broke up six months ago."_

The crew she's thinking of are the Whitebeard Pirates, the Straw Hat Pirates, the Donquixote Pirates, the Red Haired Pirates, and the Big Mom Pirates.

 _"A cute vampire cornering me in the woods? Those smarmy teen vampire romance novels were right!"_

Given Vaughan's appearance, this joke _had_ to be made.


	3. The Blood and the Gauntlet Part 2

_**Part 2**_

* * *

 **Time: Two hours later  
Location: On the other side of Darwin Island**

There was never more of a welcome sight to (a still pants-less) Black Orchid Presley than his crew's ship, the _Argent Fleur_. It was next to the beach, anchored and with mooring lines wrapping around nearby trees to keep it from floating off. The first mate waded into the water and frantically grabbed the rope ladder leading up to the deck, climbing it as fast as he could.

"Captain!" he shouted when he reached the railing. "We have a problem-!"

He was interrupted by a teacup hitting his forehead, doing so with enough velocity to send him tumbling back into the surf.

"I'll say we have a problem, my dear Orchid-chan," a deep, somewhat effeminate voice responded. The voice's owner walked up to the railing. "It's time for four o'clock tea, and you are _beyond_ fashionably late! This crew has rules, Orchid-chan! I will not have us descend into savagery like all those brutes we have to share the New World with!"

Presley slowly made his way back up the ladder, over the railing, and onto the deck to face his attacker. "I know, and I am most sorry, Captain Eriks! It's just that-"

He was once again interrupted, this time from a tea strainer hitting his face with enough force to _again_ knock him over. He fell to the deck with a thud.

"And another thing- where are your trousers?!" the voice's owner, Captain 'White Rose' Eriks, shouted. "I did not commission _Du Froid Couture_ for your entire wardrobe just for you to run around free range like a barbarian! It's indecent and it hurts my feelings! Honestly, it's like I get no gratitude for what I do!"

Presley sat up, rubbing his abused face. He stared up apologetically at his captain. "I have nothing but gratitude for you, sir! I swear I have a good reason for being late and losing my pants! Please, just listen!"

The other crewmates, all dressed rather fabulously, grouped up behind him. "Please listen, our dear Captain! It might be important!"

Eriks sniffed and turned away, walking to a little table with a tea set on it. He sat down and picked up a gold and ivory box. He opened it to reveal it was full of makeup.

"Very well," he agreed. "Talk while I freshen up. This whole ordeal has gotten me all frazzled."

Presley nodded furiously and prostrated himself at his captain's feet. "Yes, Captain! I come bearing news of great danger! Two powerful bounty hunters are here on the island, and I can confirm they are coming for your head! One of them attacked me, humiliated me, and tied me up with my own pants! I managed to escape and send some of the wildlife after them, but I don't know how long that will keep them busy! I insist we leave while we-"

"Orchid-chan."

Presley stopped rambling. "Y-Yes, Captain?"

"Look at me."

He looked up, taking in the sight that was his captain. Eriks was a handsome, tall, lean man with corded muscles. He had soft, fair skin and long platinum blond hair he kept in a ponytail, with one thick bang falling over his right eye. He wore a white captain's coat with gold epaulets on his shoulders with the arms free, a white dress shirt (with enough buttons left undone to show off his hairless pectorals), white trousers, and white high-heeled boots. A large white rose was pinned to the lapel on his coat. He wore light blue eye shadow, pink nail polish, and was currently reapplying pale pink lip gloss.

"Orchid-chan, I'm hurt," Eriks sighed, smacking his lips. He recapped the lip gloss. "Do you really think so _little_ of me? After _all_ we've _been_ through?"

"I-I- of course not- I..." Presley stammered.

"You really think that just because two bounty hunters who happen to be a _bit_ skilled show up, I'm going to go run like Little Miss Muffet after that spider knocked her off her tuffet? Especially after the _last_ time our crew tried to run from a fight?!"

"Captain, I-" Presley tried to explain.

"Almost 20 years ago, our crew, while under the command of my father- may he rest in peace- attempted to outrun the marines in the West Blue and they ran right into an ambush!" Eriks stood up and plucked a white rose from the table's centerpiece, holding it up dramatically. "My father was killed, as was most of the original crew! I was forced to take command, and since then have we ever run from a fight?!"

"No!" the crew answered.

"That's right, my darlings! The White Rose Pirates do not run- we take the fight to our enemies before they can strike first! It's how we survived Paradise and the New World! It's what we did then, and it's what we'll do now! Are you with me?!"

"AYE, CAPTAIN!" the crew replied with fervor.

Eriks grinned and squeezed the rose in his fingers, which took on a metallic sheen. With a flick of of his wrist, he threw the rose into the mast and the flower impaled it. Only the petals were still visible.

 _I am too good for words_ , Eriks thought smugly. _Better get ready then. Orchid-chan said these hunters are strong, and he probably irked them with the wildlife distraction. They're probably planning our demise as we speak._

* * *

 **Location: Clearing in the jungle of Darwin Island**

"Are they gone?" Erity asked, panting.

Vaughan did a quick scan with both his eyes and Haki, then nodded. "Yeah, they're gone."

"FINAL-FREAKING-LY!" Erity hollered, before promptly collapsing onto her back.

Vaughan winced and sat down. "Could you keep it down? Your shouting might alert them to where we are."

"UP YOURS, ENOCH, I CAN SHOUT IF I WANT! I'M EXHAUSTED!" she shrieked at him.

"How have you made it this far in the New World? Your stamina is deplorable."

"Shut up! What I want to know is why _you_ aren't exhausted! You're not even winded!"

Vaughan shrugged. "I had a strict upbringing. And please quit the shouting- I'd rather _not_ be chased by those animals for another two hours."

Erity snarled and jumped to her feet. "Oh, those animals! Don't get me started about those damn hell-spawn that were those _animals_!"

The mohawked woman began to to kick one of the large nearby boulders, ranting in sheer fury.

" _Two hours_! Two _freaking_ hours of dealing with those crappy animals! Flying through the _air_ , bouncing off the _trees_ , spitting up _acid_!" she growled, punctuating each word with a kick to the boulder. "Floating _otters_ , floating _chipmunks_ , floating _carnivorous_ _bushes-_!"

"Don't forget the floating piranhas," Vaughan added unhelpfully.

"The _piranhas_!" Erity finally broke the boulder and resorted to stamping her foot. "I hate, hate, _hate_ piranhas! If I _never_ see another piranha as long as I live, it'll be _too_ soon!"

(Meanwhile, on a certain time traveling island, a certain red haired local was carrying a basket of crops. She paused, looked around, shrugged, and went about her business.)

Erity continued to rant and complain, and was actually causing a fissure to form in the ground where she stomped.

 _Hmm, she seems to have regained her energy, and is also a lot stronger than I gave her credit for,_ Vaughan thought, glancing at the destroyed rock and the giant crack in the earth. He frowned in annoyance. _But_ man _, is she one hell of a complainer_. _How long does she plan to keep this up?_

"Just you wait until I get my hands on you, Presley! I'm going to turn you into a Priscilla with a rusty spoon!" Erity vowed, ignoring Vaughan's wince of sympathy. "I _will_ have my comeuppance!"

Vaughan raised an eyebrow. "Comeuppance?"

"You know, revenge? Retribution?"

Vaughan gave her a look.

"It's a word!" Erity huffed.

"Riveting. If that's everything, I'm going after Eriks now," Vaughan said, standing up and dusting himself off. "I've wasted enough time as is."

He started to walk away, only for Erity to suddenly appear in front of him.

 _What the devil?!_ Vaughan thought, eyes widening. _Was... was that Soru?!_

He didn't have time to think about it before Erity got in his face, yelling at him.

"Hold it, vampire boy!" Erity yelled, planting her hands on her hips. "You're not going after anyone! You made me lose my catch, so it's only fair that you back off and let me take Eriks!"

"Not a vampire. And I'm not backing off- I called dibs, remember?"

"We are _so_ not having that argument again!"

"Fine, then let's have _this_ argument- I'm not going let some amateur who can't even hold on to her catch go after a semi-big name pirate. Get the picture?"

"Amateur?! Just because I'm new to bounty hunting doesn't mean I'm some wet-behind-the-ears greenhorn in fighting powerful enemies! And the only reason Presley got away was because you distracted me!"

"He shouldn't have been with you in the first place! The moment you caught him, you should have either secured him or given him to a marine outpost!"

"He was leading me to the crew! He told me where they were earlier, but I caught a 'tell' from him that proved he was lying!"

"Then you should have just used Kenbunshoku Haki to find them!" Vaughan scolded her. "The island's not that big, and even if it was, you should've at least gotten a vague impression of their 'voices'!"

Erity stared at him for a few seconds, then crossed her arms and turned her head away sheepishly.

Realization hit Vaughan like a sea train. "You... you don't have Kenbunshoku Haki, do you?"

Erity shook her head.

"How about Busoshoku Haki?"

Erity shook her head again.

"I'm going to go ahead and guess you don't have Haoshoku Haki..."

Erity gave him a glare that said _what do you think, genius_?

"And just to clarify- you're a solo hunter, right? You don't have a crew or a partner with Haki?"

Erity nodded.

If Vaughan were a lesser man (or if Erity were related to anyone of the Monkey family or was Bhanu), he would have had a conniption right then and there. Who the _hell_ planned to come to the New World without either first gaining Haki or teaming up with someone who _did_ have the power?! You would have to be a complete and utter moron to attempt to enter the New World so completely unprepared like that!

(Meanwhile, on a certain island with many alternating seasons, a certain Super Nova sneezed and got whacked on the head by his teacher with a branch.)

"I may not have Haki, but I don't need it to hear you silently judging me," Erity deadpanned.

"I'm not judging you," Vaughan sighed, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "I'm just marveling about how someone could be so ill-prepared."

"Excuse you! I am not ill-prepared! I have trained my body and reaction time to near-superhuman levels and the claws of my gauntlets are coated in sea prism stone! I know my weaknesses and I have them covered!"

"That's not good enough! This is the New World and it's always a good idea to have someone with Haki to back you up!"

"Maybe it's my life's goal to prove you don't need Haki to move up in life!"

"That's totally impractical!"

"Your _face_ is impractical!"

Vaughan chose then to look away from her. If they were moving into "your face" insults, then they had reached a whole new level of immaturity he could do well without.

"Okay, this is where I draw the line," he told her, pushing her back with one finger. "I think that the both of us are a little too old-"

"OLD?!" Erity roared, aiming a vicious kick towards his head.

"-to be getting into juvenile arguments like this," he continued, casually ducking beneath Erity's attack. _Touchy about her age. I'll keep that in mind._ "So how's about we settle this like the mature adults that we are?"

"How's that?" Erity asked sarcastically. "You want to go to court over it?"

"No, that's how nobles and politicians settle things. Bounty hunters settle things by- for a lack of a better term- beating the ever-loving crap out of each other," Vaughan replied calmly, backing up several paces. "Last one standing gets Eriks."

Erity put a hand on her chin contemplatively. "... Am I allowed to use any measures I deem appropriate?"

"As long as you don't kill me."

"Fair enough. _Rankyaku_!"

Vaughan barely had time to dodge the flying slash attack. And not even a second later Erity was upon him. She unleashed a barrage of kicks aimed towards her opponent's sternum. Vaughan, in turn, met each kick with his forearm, blocking the assault. Erity then used her next kick to move Vaughan's arm and allow her to punch at his chest. Vaughan maneuvered out of her reach and pulled out his broadsword. He stabbed at her repeatedly, but her body went limp and she avoided each thrust.

 _Rankyaku, Kami-e, and that was definitely Soru earlier,_ Vaughan thought as he fought. _That's three of the Six Powers, and if she doesn't have the other three I'll eat my boots. Question is, how'd she learn?_

Questions for another time. Erity blocked the next stab with her gauntlet, causing a spray of sparks. Her free arm reared back, fingers bent like claws.

" _Go Shigan_!" she shouted.

She thrust her hand forward, but instead of piercing Vaughan she found her entire arm tangled up in his cloak. The red-eyed man was nowhere to be seen.

"What the-?" she began.

"Boo."

Erity turned in time to receive a punch to the jaw with a Haki coated fist. She recovered just in time to block another stab from the broad sword, only this time she grabbed the blade with both hands.

"I can't believe you punched me in the face!" she hollered.

"Hey, it could've been worse," Vaughan argued, struggling to pull the blade back. "I left my rifle on the ship."

Snarling, Erity took advantage of the struggle to try and knee him in the stomach. Vaughan's Haki saw it coming a mile away, so he let go of the sword and jumped back, taking a defensive stance. Erity tossed the sword aside and resumed her assault. She let loose a barrage of kicks that Vaughan calmly blocked with palms. Erity didn't like it.

"What is going through your fool head?!" Erity snapped, preparing to deliver another kick.

"Wotans," Vaughan deadpanned.

Erity froze. "Pardon?"

"You know, wotans? Half fishman, half giant-"

"I know what wotans are, you ninny! What about them?!"

"I was just wondering," Vaughan continued. "How do they _work_?"

"How do they work?"

"Yeah. I've been thinking about it and I can't get past the... size difference."

Erity stared at him long and hard. "... That was a rhetorical question."

Vaughan shrugged. "Why ask a question if you don't want it answered?"

"... TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!" Erity screamed.

Erity aimed a series of punches at his face, but Vaughan dodged, jumped back, and then lept forward as high as he could. Before she could react, he wrapped both his legs around her neck and twisted his body, sending them both tumbling to the crowd _hard_.

Erity was silent at first, and for a second Vaughan was worried he'd hurt her more than he'd planned.

"Gah- YOU BASTARD!" Erity cursed loudly.

Never mind, she was fine.

Vaughan, now sitting on her stomach and pinning her down, crossed his arms. "That's uncalled for. My parents were happily married long before I came into the picture."

"YOU ARE AN OVERLY LITERAL JACKASS, ENOCH! GET OFF ME!"

"Say please."

Erity didn't say please. Instead, she wrapped her own legs around his neck from behind. With a powerful heave she threw him off, and in the split second he was airborne she lifted herself up on one hand and drove her foot into his spine. The force sent him flying into a boulder, shattering said boulder. Vaughan coughed up blood when he hit the ground.

The mohawked woman walked up to him and stood over him triumphantly. "I'm the one still standing. Do I win, or do you want to stop holding back now?"

 _She could tell that?_ Vaughan spit out blood and sat up painstakingly. "Yeah, okay. But only if you stop holding back too."

Erity raised an eyebrow. _He could tell that?_ "Alright, fine."

"I'm glad we're in agreement. _Sanguine Needles._ "

Erity felt something sharp pierce her thigh and let out a cry. When she looked down, she saw thin spikes made of some kind of red crystal sticking into her leg from the ground.

"ARGHHH!" Erity yelled. "WHAT THE-?!"

"Don't tell me you're surprised," Vaughan chuckled. "You knew my epithet and you were still stupid enough to make me bleed. I knew you were an amateur."

Erity screamed in frustration and snapped her leg forward, breaking the spikes. She charged and there were no more words- just silent, concentrated battle. She slashed at him furious with her clawed gauntlets, only for Vaughan to agile maneuver around them. They had moved enough that the red-eyed man was able to kick up his thought-to-be-lost sword off the ground and into his hand. This gave him a better way to avoid the sea prism stone in her gauntlets. Erity used _Geppo_ to launch herself into the air and direct a Tempest Kick straight down at him. Vaughan coated his sword with Haki and batted the attack aside. With a flick of his wrist, he sent small bullets of hardened blood at her. When they just bounced off, Vaughan assumed that A, she used Iron Body, and B, she was able to use more than one Power at the same time.

Erity fell to the ground and vanished in a flash of _Soru_. She reappeared behind him, about to _Shigan_ his shoulder, when Vaughan stabbed his sword into the ground and grabbed her arm, judo flipping her. This action managed to rip the sleeve off her right arm. She corrected herself mid-air and landed in a crouch. She focused an icy stare at her now bare arm (which had a some kind of black tattoo Vaughan couldn't make out). Vaughan didn't need Haki to know she was pissed about him ruining her outfit. He picked up his sword and ran at her first. He swung, only for her to go into a handstand and kick him in the jaw. Vaughan recovered quickly and directed a Haki-coated punch with his free hand into her side. Erity grunted, but didn't react beyond coughing up some blood. She flipped on to feet and direct another Tempest Kick at him, point blank. He used his sword to split the attack in two and used the blood Erity spat out to form more needles.

Thus they continued, punching and kicking and countering each other. There was use of Haki and blood, and there was use of Rokushiki. It went on and on and on...

* * *

 **Time: Sunset  
**

The once tranquil clearing looked like a war zone. The ground was torn up, every boulder was smashed into itty bitty pebbles, and there was blood everywhere. And that was just the location- Erity and Vaughan were worse.

Erity was laying flat on her back, panting. She was covered in cut and stab wounds, and her gauntlets were horribly dented. Her dress now had no sleeves it was so torn up it resembled a shirt more than a dress. It was just lucky she was wearing black bicycle shorts underneath.

Vaughan too was lying flat on his back, trying to desperately catch his breath. His clothes were all torn up- aside from his tattered pants, he no longer had his jacket, his cloak had been lost earlier in the fight, and his small t-shirt didn't look too good. He had a startling number of cuts, stab wounds, and bruises, the first two he had scabbed over with his powers. His sword was snapped in two as his side, and in his hand he grasped a dagger made of crystallized blood.

"Hey... remember when... you said.. the last one standing... got Eriks?" Erity rasped. "What happens... when neither of us... are?"

"Shut... up," Vaughan snapped weakly. "And remember... when I said... you had... deplorable stamina? I... take it... back."

Erity took another deep breath and sat up. "This is stupid. In the time it's taken us to have this fight, Eriks and his men have probably sailed far away from here."

Vaughan sat up painstakingly. "Most likely."

"Then why are we still fighting?"

"I don't know about you, but for me it's because this is by far the best fight I've had in half a decade. I completely forgot about the White Rose Pirates about two hours in."

"Same here," Erity admitted. "I should be mad about that but I'm not."

"Likewise," Vaughan agreed. He stood up and stretched. "How's about this: one last attack from each of us, winner take all. Said winner gets to go back into port and sail after the White Rose Pirates. The wind's against them this time of day so they couldn't have gotten far."

"Fine by me, but the winner also has to buy the loser a drink. Sound good, you blood-thirsty arrogant brat?"

"Sounds good, old hag."

"OLD HAG?!"

Vaughan chuckled at the reaction. He had to admit, he liked this woman. Sure, she was whiny and had a hair-trigger temper, but for a rookie (in the hunter business, anyway- her use of Rokushiki definitely implied a government background) she was incredibly skilled and confidant. She was also smart and had guts, which was something he could appreciate. Plus it was fun to get a rise out of her. She was like a younger, more bratty version of Shakky. He hadn't had this much fun since Bhanu was alive...

Vaughan shook his head. _Enough of that. You're going to finish this duel, buy her that drink, leave, and go after White Rose. You have a job to do- you don't need any distractions_.

Erity dropped her gauntlets to the ground and a stance. "Ready?"

Vaughan nodded and adopted a stance as well. "Ready!"

Both letting loose a battle cry, Erity and Vaughan charged at full throttle at each other, fists reared back.

They came close to each other..

... punched outward...

... and...

 _ **BANG!**_

... both promptly choked as a launched set of bolas hit them, knocked the wind out of them, and tied them together chest to chest. They flopped to the ground.

"Holy-!" Vaughan yelled.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Erity hollered.

"Ha, Captain, we got them!" a snobby voice shouted.

Out of the forest came a horde of pirate who for some reason were all fabulously dressed. They all carried weapons, and one particularly smug one was carrying a launcher that had shot the bolas.

"... You've got to be kidding me. They surrounded us while we were fighting?!" Erity glared at Vaughan. "What the heck, Enoch?! You were the one going on about the wonders of Haki! Why didn't you sense them?!"

Vaughan didn't answer. He looked seasick and had broken into a cold sweat.

"Enoch?" she asked. "What's wrong?!"

"That would be the sea prism stone coating those bolas. They don't do a devil fruit user's condition any favors, darling," a new, effeminate voice broke in.

Erity looked over her shoulder to see White Rose Eriks and Black Orchid Presley (who _still_ wasn't wearing any pants) move to the front of the crowd. Presley was grinning like a maniac, and Eriks smirked with the utmost satisfaction.

"Looks like you were wrong, Orchid-chan. We had nothing to worry about from them," Eriks said, _tsk-_ ing. "After all, what kind of self-respecting bounty hunters get captured by the bounties they themselves are hunting?"

Vaughan scowled weakly, and Erity summed up the situation in the one word that could sum up a situation where you had been captured by a group of rather glamorous pirates.

"... Fudge."

* * *

 **Read and Review, please!**

 _"The piranhas!" Erity finally broke the boulder and resorted to stamping her foot. "I hate, hate, hate piranhas! If I never see another piranha as long as I live, it'll be too soon!"_

 _(Meanwhile, on a certain time traveling island, a certain red haired local was carrying a basket of crops. She paused, looked around, shrugged, and went about her business.)_

Anybody remember what I made Siobhan's surname?

 _...but I caught a 'tell' from him that proved he was lying!_

A 'tell' is a physical reaction that someone is lying or gives away true intentions/feelings. Kaku used Iceberg's pulse as a 'tell' back during the Water 7 Arc. Since Erity trained to be part of CP9, I figured it would something she would use.


	4. The Blood and the Gauntlet Part 3

_**Part 3**_

* * *

 **Location: Aboard the _Argent Fleur_ , other side of Darwin Island**

Erity had had her share of... well, it usually varied between _bad_ and _aggravating_ days. Usually bad though. (A trait she shared with a certain longnosed sniper, not that she knew that at this or any time.) Growing up a street rat in some rinky-dink town on a rinky-dink island in the rinky-dink South Blue meant she was almost entitled to them.

There was the day she got caught stealing apples from that one merchant's stand and got caned across the back for her trouble. That was bad.

The day that government agent found her, in hindsight, was _really_ bad.

The day many years after that that-should-never-be-thought-upon-unless-piss-faced-drunk. That had been the worst.

This, however...

"Honestly, you should be honored!" Eriks was bragging for the tenth time in the last hour. "You've been captured by one of the most beautiful, refined, intelligent pirates on these seas. I don't do this for just anyone, darlings."

... this definitely fell under _aggravating_.

After being hogtied in the clearing, Eriks'... 'men' (she was hesitant to refer to them as such- they had nicer hair than she did) had dragged her and Enoch back to their ship and tied them to the mast for no other reason than to rub it in their faces. They had even started up a fancy dinner party with fine wine and the snootiest of laughter. They enjoyed the mockery far too much for comfort. While Erity could appreciate anyone who embraced their inner woman, she had the irrepressible urge to knock all of their lights out...

On the other side of the mast, Enoch spit out blood. "Hmph. Pirate Prince is prettier."

"How _dare_ you bring up that upstart! I was here first!" Eriks snapped.

... though not as much as she wanted to punch out Enoch. Not only was the idiot kind of at fault for this (Mr.I-Have-Haki-So-Should-You couldn't detect the _entire pirate crew_ that had surrounded them), but he wouldn't stop baiting Eriks. They had been at each other's throats since Enoch had regained enough coherence despite the sea prism stone of their bonds.

"Enoch, I understand you're annoyed about the situation- I am too," Erity said through grit teeth. "But I would appreciate it if you would stop taunting the man who is CURRENTLY IN CHARGE OF _OUR FATES_!"

Several men winced at the last words of that sentence. Erity could be pretty shrill when she wanted to be.

"Now _there's_ an idea," Eriks hummed. "If I were you, Enoch-"

"And I'm so glad you're not," Vaughan interrupted.

"- I would listen to my companion. She is clearly the brains of this outfit," Eriks continued, ignoring the insult.

"I'm not his companion!" Erity argued. "He is _not_ affiliated with me!"

"Not that I would want you to be," Vaughan deadpanned. "You whine too much and you're so shrill. I have 64 ex-girlfriends back in Paradise just like you- I don't need another woman like that hanging around me."

" _You're_ the Crimson Heartbreaker?!" one of the crew gasped.

Vaughan's eye twitched but he didn't dignify that with a response.

"Oh, I know you're not affiliated," Eriks said, waving it off. "But that doesn't really matter in the long run. What _does_ matter is that you both have done my dear crew a great injustice. You, 'Blood King' Enoch Vaughan, had the gall to try to hunt us down when all we wanted was to stop at this island to rest." He turned to Erity. "And you, my little rookie, defeated my first mate and stripped him! _Stripped_ him, like some barbarian!"

Presley stood off to the side, glaring murderously at her. He still hadn't put on some pants.

"Would it help if I apologized?" Erity asked.

"No! It irks me- simply _irks_ me- that some little nobody came waltzing in thinking she could take on someone of my caliber. Enoch, sure. He's experienced. But not some blond harlot who is just starting out!"

"At least _my_ blonde is natural," Erity muttered.

The crew gasped in horror. Presley glanced nervously at his captain, who seemed to be on the verge of an apoplexy.

Vaughan gave her a side glance. _What was that about not taunting the man in charge of our fates?_

Presley marched up to her and grabbed her face. "Don't you dare speak that way to our captain! I won't tolerate an overconfident rookie who thinks she can defeat out crew when she clearly knows nothing of us!"

Erity didn't miss a beat. "The White Rose Pirates, originally formed in the West Blue and founded by Captain 'White Rose' Henry thirty years ago. They gained prestige through pillaging and loansharking island after island. The crew took a large hit roughly 20 years ago after raiding an island when they ran right into a Navy convoy. Most of the original crew was slaughtered while the few survivors went on to form the modern White Rose Pirates. Led by Eriks, they journeyed to the Grand Line where they expanded into the human trafficking business. They currently haunt the New World, and have gained a reputation of striking their enemies from the shadows before they can even think to strike first. Cowardly, but effective."

Vaughan whistled, impressed. So she _had_ done her research.

Presley's eyes had widened in shock. He stepped back from her and rubbed the back of his neck. "I stand corrected."

"Also, I don't _think_ I can take you on, I _know._ You only got the drop on me because I was distracted by my fight with Enoch," Erity said with a smirk. "After all, I kicked your sorry ass back in that bar. Seems to me your crew has a history of getting your asses kicked."

Eriks backhanded her.

"Hey!" Vaughan shouted in protest. "I thought you were supposed to be refined! There's nothing refined about smacking a woman who can't even hit you back!"

"It's refined if I'm disciplining a tramp who doesn't know how to hold her tongue," Eriks hissed. He sighed tiredly, looking himself over. "Look at me- I'm all frazzled again."

He turned on his heel and sat down on the railing of the ship. "I apologize my appearance. That night is a sore subject for all of us, me especially. I lost my father and many comrades to the Navy's brutality, and lost a dear friend to that... that... that _demon_ on the island. I had to pick up the pieces and I succeeded. Now I have a powerful crew and we're rich beyond belief. I have forged my crew into something great." He grinned. "No, something _elegant_! I have proved piracy can be without the barbarism that has plagued the Great Pirate Era, and I won't have it ruined or my crew's past ridiculed by a couple of lowly bounty hunters!"

"What, and human trafficking isn't barbaric?" Erity asked venomously.

Eriks shrugged. "Civilizations have been built on slavery, so I see nothing wrong with it."

"I see." Erity nodded. "Your ideals are as fake as your hair color and are as cheap as your makeup. Typical."

"I'll have you know this makeup is part of the new Mermaid Princess Criminal Cosmetic Line! It's far from cheap!" He crossed his arms and turned his head. "As for my hair, not all of us are born with beauty. Some of us have to work for it."

"All the work in the world can't fix ugly. You need a miracle for that," Erity advised.

"You-!" Eriks started to shout, leaning forward. He stopped. "What's that on your arm?"

"What's what?" Erity asked.

Eriks stalked over to her and examined her right arm closely. Curious, Vaughan looked as well. On her right arm, below her shoulder, was a black tattoo of a jolly roger that Vaughan assumed to be the black splotch he saw earlier. The jolly roger consisted of a round, cartoony skull with two arrow/swords curling behind it.

Eriks' eyes widened, as did his smile. "Oh. Oh my. I recognize that jolly roger."

"No, you don't," Erity argued quickly.

"Yes, I do!" Eriks insisted. "There's not a camp man on the Grand Line who doesn't know that jolly roger! You weren't _born_ with beauty, it was _given_ to you... by _Emporio Ivankov_!" He started to laugh. "Ohohohoho! You're one of Ivankov's newkama _freaks_!"

The entire crew started laughing and Erity's face flushed a deep red. Not from embarrassment, but from sheer rage.

"Shut up!" she hollered. "If I can't insult Eriks, then there's no way all of you get to insult Iva-sama!"

"I can if Ivankov and his ridiculous Revolutionary Army have been nothing but pains in my side for years, always taking down my associates in the human trafficking trade. I also find him personally offensive." He flipped his hair dramatically. "I achieved feminine beauty while still holding on to my masculinity. I don't need to pretend I'm something I'm not to be beautiful! You perverted your own body to achieve something you lacked. _You're_ the one who needed a miracle, not me! It's laughable!"

Erity snarled at him, and throughout this entire exchange Vaughan had remained completely straight faced.

"So as an insult to both Ivankov and the Revolutionary Army, here's what I'm going to do- you're both interesting specimens, so I'll sell you both into slavery. How does that sound?"

Erity paled and Vaughan scowled.

"That's what I thought. Men, move them below deck. We leave at dawn."

* * *

 **Time: Two hours before dawn**

It had been hours since Vaughan and Erity had been moved below deck, now chained in black market sea prism stone chains around a support pillar. They had spent the time in utter silence, Eriks' plans for them echoing around their heads. Until now.

"... So, you used to be a _dude_ ," Vaughan drawled.

Erity shot him a baleful look as best she could from her side of the pillar. "Really? The first time you've spoken in hours and _that's_ what you say?"

"What? I'm curious," Vaughan reasoned. "... So is _everything_ different, because I heard the Horm Horm Fruit is very-"

"Enoch."

"Okay, okay, I have a legitimate question, I promise."

"Then ask it."

Vaughan adjusted himself a bit before asking. "If you really are one of Ivankov's people, why in the eight hells are you a _bounty hunter_?"

"Not that it's any of your _business_ ," Erity growled. "But I'm currently not affiliated with him or the rest of Kamabakka Kingdom. It's a long, long story that I'm not inclined to tell you."

"I suppose that's fair," Vaughan conceded.

Erity was quiet for a few more minutes before she spoke again. "... When I left the island, I promised myself and Iva-sama that I wouldn't fail at this. I would succeed, no matter what it took. Now it's my first hunt and not only do I lose my first capture, _I'm_ captured and about to be sold into slavery! I totally failed! This bites! I don't want to be a slave for some fat noble!"

"If you hate it so much, then why don't you do something about it?"

"I'm strong, but even I can't break sea prism stone chains! They're harder than diamonds! Maybe if I had some lockpicks, but where am I-?"

The chains fell away.

"... Eh?"

Vaughan stood and held up a fist. In between his fingers were little wire tools.

"Boom," he said triumphantly.

Erity jumped to her feet. "Wha- how- huh- wha-?!"

"My mentor once told me a wide skill set was crucial on the Grand Line. That happened to include lockpicking."

"But... the seastone..."

Vaughan stretched. "Back when I first ate my fruit, I exposed myself to sea prism stone everyday to see if I could build up a tolerance. It still takes my powers away and makes me stiff as hell, but it doesn't affect me as badly as it used to. I was just putting on an act for Eriks."

Erity crossed her arms. "Then you could have gotten us out of those chains at _any time_?"

"Not at _any_ time." Vaughan smiled. "Only when it was funny!"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Erity screamed, kicking at his head.

"Shush," Vaughan hushed her, dodging. "You need to work on volume control. Do you want to alert the entire crew we're free?"

"Maybe, if it'll knock some sense into that fool head of yours! _That's_ why you didn't warn me we were being surrounded! You _wanted_ them to capture us!"

"Ever heard of lulling your opponent into a false sense of security? Also, I was tired. If they were offering to carry me back to their ship, I was going to take them up on it."

"You bastard!" Erity yelled. "You put us through all that humiliation because you were too lazy to make it here yourself?!"

"My parents were married before I was born, so still not a bastard. And I'm not the lazy one. You are."

" _I'm_ the lazy-?" Erity tried to argue.

"Who gives up after failing _one_ time?! My family's been failing at one task for over seven hundred years and they've never given up! Straw Hat Luffy failed to save his brother at Marineford and he still had the balls to go back and ring the Ox Bell! So I don't want to see you give up after something as stupid as failing to capture your first bounty, got it?!"

"I... I wasn't giving up!" Erity protested. "I was just complaining! It's what I do! Failure has gotten me into trouble before, so it's only natural!"

"It sure didn't sound that way to me. And I smelled 'success issues' wafting off you the minute they threw us in here," Vaughan said sternly. "You've failed before this and doing so now terrifies you. That's why you were so insistent about capturing White Rose yourself and not having Haki was okay, because you don't want to fail. Well, that's moronic. It doesn't matter how many times you fail because if you're still alive at the end of it and stronger for it, than you can always succeed later! Giving up to avoid failing again never solves anything, especially if you're afraid of letting someone down! Trust me, I know!"

Vaughan thought back to all those days at Rip Off's, yelling at Shakky not to bring up _that_ island, cursing his family...

"There was a time I gave up my goals- which are none of your business- and it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth," Vaughan admitted. He leveled a determined look at the mohawked woman. "I swore to never do so again, and I'm not about to let you do it either, especially when you've proven that you're skilled enough. Got it?"

Erity bit her lip in contemplation.

 _"Shut up, you crappy freak of nature. I'm not giving up."_

 _"BECAUSE MY CREW IS OUT THERE GETTING STRONGER, AND I REFUSE TO LET A SINGLE ONE OF THEM DOWN BY FAILING!"_

Erity rubbed her tear ducts tiredly. "You men are so stubborn, aren't you? Always showing me up with your bullheaded determination."

"Speaking from experience?" Vaughan asked.

"I knew this guy once. He wanted to defeat me but he failed again and again. I didn't understand why he didn't just give up, so he wouldn't have to face failure over and over, but then he told me it was because he wanted to get stronger for his crew, and he wasn't going to let them down by failing. You reminded me of that, and just like then I feel like a major tool for having 'success issues.'"

"Can't be a tool if you don't have the equipment, if you catch my drift."

Erity punched his shoulder, but in a friendly way. "Shut up. Alright, you've convinced me with your grandiose speech. How long have you had that one in the revolver?"

Vaughan rubbed his shoulder. "A while. I've been saving it. How'd I do?"

"A little preachy, but not bad. Now, what's our next course of action?"

"Now, we go up on deck and have _words_ with Eriks like the mature adults that we are."

"Meaning we beat the crap out of him?"

"Exactly. If you don't mind helping me."

Erity smirked. "What about not needing a rookie's help?"

"I did just admit you're skilled enough. I'd say you're plenty qualified," Vaughan retorted.

"Okay then. I'm in."

"Great. And to make it better, I bet you haven't even realized where they locked us up."

Erity focused on the room's contents and gasped happily. It was filled with boxes of clothes and, oddly enough, boxes of high grade weaponry.

"For someone who claims to be so intelligent, Eriks sure picked a dumb room to throw us into," Vaughan observed.

Erity immediately started going through boxes. She first pulled out a new outfit for herself and had Vaughan turn around as she changed. She chose a white pirate blouse, brown capris, and a red sash around her waist. She was going for a vintage pirate look, as it would appear. Once she was done Vaughan got some clothes for himself. He chose a simple black t-shirt, gray slacks, and a red leather jacket he found (and might keep, since it looked pretty cool- he wondered why someone like Eriks had it). He made sure to dig his medallion out of his pants pocket where he had put it for safekeeping first and put it back on.

Once they had both changed, they started going through the weapons. Vaughan immediately pocketed some quality revolvers. He was about to look at the sniper rifles when he heard Erity squeal.

"Shush!" he hushed her again.

"Sorry!" she apologized. "But look what I found!"

She hefted what looked like some kind of bazooka with two seashells on either side up on to her shoulder.

"It's a deluxe burn bazooka!" she clarified. "It's a special kind of shoulder cannon that can ignite gas stored in the dials and release a napalm-like blast! I thought you could only get them on sky islands, but I guess Eriks has connections in the black market. I'm so using this!"

"Huh," Vaughan grunted. "I took you for more of a brawler."

"I am, but who doesn't want to see an giant explosion every now and again?"

"I don't... you are one crazy bitch, you know that?"

"Well, this bitch loves cannons," Erity told him smugly. Then she frowned thoughtfully. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask. You know now I'm not technically a 'bitch'... how do you feel about that?"

Vaughan crossed his arms. "Does it matter what I think?"

"Not really. I'm just curious about your opinion."

"If you insist," Vaughan sighed. "To be honest, I think if you're born a certain gender, that's the card you've been dealt and you should stick with it physically, though I have no issue if you want to dress a certain way or bind your chest or whatever. That being said, it's your body and your life. As long as you're happy and not bringing harm to yourself or anybody else, why should I or anyone else care what you do with either? It doesn't affect _my_ life if you want be seen as a man or a woman."

Erity gave him a long, calculating stare, then broke out into a laugh. "Yuhahahaha! Not bring harm to anyone? You just asked me to help you beat the crap out of a pirate!"

"Eh, jackass has it coming for smacking a lady, among other things," Vaughan said with a shrug.

"That he does." Erity balanced the burn bazooka across her shoulders. "Thank you for your honesty. Now let's show that hypocritical bigot just exactly who he's messing with."

Vaughan smiled and slipped on a pair of sunglasses he saw sitting in one of the boxes. He knew he liked this woman.

* * *

 **Time: Dawn**  
 **Location: In Eriks' private quarters**

Eriks tried to not yawn as he meticulously applied eyeshadow. There had been many a time where he had to completely restart his morning ritual just because he had mis-aimed the brush.

 _So much to do today, so much to do,_ he thought. _I still have to call one of my dealers and tell them I have new merchandise. Then I have to call my tailor to update Orchid-chan's wardrobe... also have to talk to Orchid-chan again about this whole "no-pants" kick he's on. It's worrying._

The pants issue could wait though. Eriks really wanted to see those arrogant hunters get sold on the slave market- especially Erity. How dare that damn tranny mock the tragedy his crew went through? It had been nearly 20 years since then and he still had nightmares. And not even about the marines!

Eriks shuddered. No, his nightmares were about the _demon_. That terrible, horrible demon on that dump of an island. He found that creature covered in his best friend's blood, still standing over the corpse with a long dagger in its hand and a dead look in it's eyes. It's dull, _red_ eyes that reflected the firelight-

"Wait." Eriks stopped applying his makeup. "Red eyes... why does that sound so familiar right now? Didn't-"

"CAPTAIN!" Presley screeched, bursting into the room. "We have a-!"

Presley was cut off as silver hairbrush thunked against his forehead, knocking him to the ground.

"For the love of Mother Sea, Orchid-chan, haven't you heard of _knocking_?!" Eriks yelled at him. "What if I had been still applying my makeup?! You would've messed me up and I would've had to start over!"

"My apologies, captain!" Presley apologized, getting up. "It's just that I have urgent news!"

"Get on with it then!"

"It's Erity and Enoch, sir! They escaped!"

Eriks' eye twitched. "They. Did. What?"

"Escaped, sir," Presley repeated. "They are no longer in the room we chained them up in. They may have also helped themselves to some of spare clothes and weaponry."

"You locked them in the Wardrobe Emergency/Battle Emergency Room?! _Why_?! What about the- are you still not wearing pants? We talked about this last night!"

Presley was dressed in a black dress shirt and his hair was as immaculate as ever, but he was not wearing pants. He had at least changed into boxer shorts.

"Well, you see, I've become accustomed the the breeze-" Presley tried to explain.

"Never mind that!" Eriks shouted, grabbing his captain's coat off a chair and rushing out of the room. "Come on!"

The pair ran up to the main deck, where the rest of the crew was searching the ship for the escaped prisoners in the dim light of sunrise. Eriks ran to center-deck and took charge.

"No, no, no, they're not still here! If they've escaped, they would have already returned to the island by now!" Eriks yelled. "Form search parties and head out! They couldn't have gotten far!"

They suddenly heard a sharp whistle. The White Rose Pirates ran to the front of the ship and looked out onto the island. There, standing only feet from the edge of the forest, was Vaughan.

"Oi!" he called out. "Lose something?!"

In a surprisingly short amount of time, Eriks and his entire crew had jumped ship and surrounded Vaughan, aiming their weapons at him with relish.

"You have a lot of nerve, mocking us this way," Eriks growled. "Didn't your mother teach you any etiquette?"

"She did," Vaughan replied, adjusting his sunglasses. "I simply choose to ignore it when it suits me."

"How convenient for you. But it's the end of the line." Eriks drew his sword and held it against Vaughan's neck. "You have nowhere to run to, Enoch."

Vaughan raised an eyebrow and ran his thumb over his medallion in disinterest. "Whoever said I was running? Haven't you noticed Erity's not with me?"

"Where is she? Tell us!" Presley demanded.

"I really don't know," Vaughan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "She got excited about something she found in that weapons room and ran off."

Eriks didn't know why, but he suddenly broke out into a cold sweat. His sword shook a little. "W-What made her excited...?"

Vaughan smiled sadistically. "Oh? You haven't heard?"

The air suddenly smelled of gas. The bounty hunter snapped his fingers.

 _ **SHOOM!**_

 _ **KA-BOOM!**_

Overhead came a beam of intense, blue-white fire that singed the top of many of the pirates' hair. But that was paltry in comparison to what it hit- the _Argent Fleur_. The ship vanished in a giant explosion followed by a wild inferno. The heat was so great they could feel it even at a distance.

Eriks dropped his sword and gaped in shock and horror. Vaughan could only grin wider.

"Bitches love cannons."

* * *

 **Read and Review, please!**

 _"If you insist," Vaughan sighed. "To be honest, I think if you're born a certain gender, that's the card you've been dealt and you should stick with it physically, though I have no issue if you want to dress a certain way or bind your chest or whatever. That being said, it's your body and your life. As long as you're happy and not bringing harm to yourself or anybody else, why should I or anyone else care what you do with either? Personally, it doesn't affect my life if you want be seen as a man or a woman."_

Honestly, this is an angle that didn't even occur to me until I had started this prequel. At any rate, I'm glad it did. Vaughan's view is what I think is a good attitude to have towards transgenders or even homosexuals. It's okay if you personally don't agree with it, but don't prejudice people for it. Respect their decisions and life choices (as long as it's not hurting themselves or others) and treat them like the good people they are. I'm Christian, but I have friends and family members who are gay whom I care for very much and would do anything to protect. I don't hold their sexual preferences against them, and I really don't like people who would. They shouldn't be prejudiced just because they feel a certain way and act on it. If it makes them happy and it's not hurting anyone, does it really matter whether a person likes boys or girls or wants to change their gender?

 _Erity had her share of... well, it usually varied between_ bad _and_ aggravating _days. (A trait she somewhat shared with a certain longnosed sniper, not that she knew that at this or any time.)_

I started chapter 19, "Know Thy Enemy" in a similar fashion only with Usopp. I didn't want to rewrite the opening so I made this observation.

 _The day many years after that that-should-never-be-thought-upon-unless-piss-faced-drunk. That had been really bad._

Erity mentioned back during the jungle confrontation with Roronoa, Sanji, and Chopper that her background with CP9 was not a story she could tell sober. This is referring to that.

 _"Yes, I do!" Eriks insisted. "There's not a camp man on the Grand Line who doesn't know that jolly roger! You weren't born with beauty, it was given to you... by Emporio Ivankov!" He started to laugh. "Ohohohoho! You're one of Ivankov's newkama freaks!"_

There, I did it. I confirmed what everyone guessed a long time ago. Erity is a Newkama- a man who was transformed into a woman by Ivankov's Horm Horm powers. Though I'm surprised none of you caught the tattoo- I described it back when Erity ran into Nami way back when.

 _"What? I'm curious," Vaughan reasoned. "... So is_ everything _different, because I heard the Horm Horm Fruit is very-"_

The answer is yes, BTW. I have a feeling Ivankov is _very_ thorough.

 _"Not at_ any _time." Vaughan smiled. "Only when it was funny!"_

A lesson I learned from Roger Rabbit.

 _He chose a simple black t-shirt, gray slacks, and a red leather jacket he found (and might keep, since it looked pretty cool- he wondered why someone like Eriks had it)._

The jacket mentioned in that outfit description is the one he currently wears. He really did end up keeping it.

 _"Bitches love cannons."_

Given Vaughan's physical appearance, a Hellsing Ultimate Abridged reference had to be made... and I just realized giving him pistols and sunglasses makes him look like Alucard. Huh.


	5. The Blood and the Gauntlet Part 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world of One Piece. I own only my characters.**

 **Before I begin, just let me extend my thanks to The Patient One, demondaughters, Monkey D. Funky, tomari, Hiezen, vaporeonxglaceon, Starry Roses, Shad the Fangirl, freyiejj, Alex the Artist, SomebodyLost, Resha Tsubaki, and all the other readers who gave me such great encouragement. You made me feel really, really happy.**

 **And, upon suggestion from demondaughters, I have decided to make Before Dawn a drabble series! It will showcase short stories from the pasts of the Carrion Bounty Hunters and Siobhan, and, once the main story is over, what happens after. Some will be funny, some will be sad, and all will be awesome (at least in my utmost opinion). Since it will be a drabble series, it won't update as often (or more often depending on how my creativity is functioning that week), but that's life I suppose. I still intend to wrap up The Blood and the Gauntlet and then work on the main story, but expect more from this!**

 **So, as far fight scenes go, I skimped on them. This isn't really meant to have to much fighting. It's about Erity and Vaughan's past, and also, I really just hate writing fight scenes. The next chapter of the main story is going to be full of them. Oy vey.**

 **Now, on with the show!**

* * *

 _ **Part 4**_

* * *

 **Location: Up a tree in the Darwin Forest**

"Yuhahaha, nailed it!" Erity lowered the deluxe burn bazooka's scope. "Not bad for a woman who hasn't fired a shot since her teens!"

The explosion had been spectacular. Eriks' ship had been utterly annihilated in one beautiful blaze of glory that could be seen for miles. Was it possible she spooked a few of the locals? Yes, but who cared? Glorious explosions!

She frowned as she fiddled with the trigger. Too bad the burn bazooka had only enough gas for one shot. Doubly too bad the dials were in such poor condition that they were already cracking. That was the black market for you- they always skimped out on something.

Erity tossed the bazooka over her shoulder. "Oh well, no use lamenting. Still, I wished I could've seen the look on White Rose's face. I wonder how he's taking it."

" _YOU SON OF A DISEASED BLOBFISH FISHMAN!_ "

That answered that question.

"Sheesh," Erity winced, cleaning her ear with her pinky. "And I thought _I_ could be shrill."

* * *

 **Location: Edge of the Darwin Forest, not far from the explosion site**

"Sheesh," Vaughan winced, cleaning his ear with his pinky. "And I thought _Erity_ could be shrill."

Eriks just stood there, eye twitching violently and breathing heavily through his teeth. Those amongst his men who weren't still stunned eyed him warily.

"Captain, take deep breaths," Presley said, trying to placate him. "You always say it's unseemly to react like this. Just find your happy place."

"Was his happy place the ship?" Vaughan asked unhelpfully. "If so, it's currently burning debris in the ocean."

 _ **CLANG!**_

Vaughan pulled a pilfered dagger from his belt just in time to block Eriks' sword.

"Captain!" Presley cried out.

"Take the men and hunt down the tranny," Eriks commanded in a dangerous hiss. "This one's _mine._ "

"Hey, I take offense to that!"

Presley and the other pirates looked up to see Erity in the air over the trees, hopping up and down on one foot. In the air.

Yeah, this was throwing the pirates for a loop.

"I'm not a tranny, I'm a lovely _newkama_!" she called down with a wide smile. "Catch me if you can!"

With that she allowed herself to fall into tree line. The pirates recovered from their stupor.

"After her!" Presley yelled, gesturing towards the forest with his cutlass.

The men gave out cheers of acknowledgement and entered the foliage, Presley leading them confidently. This left Eriks and Vaughan alone, their blades still scraping together as one blocked the other.

"Just you and me now, Enoch," Eriks crooned.

"Yup," Vaughan agreed. "And just the way I wanted it. You and I have unfinished business."

"Oh? Are you still sour about the whole ambush thing?"

"No. Our business comes from before that. _Way_ before that."

Eriks raised an eyebrow, applying more pressure to his sword. "Have we... _met_ before?"

Vaughan frowned. "Figures. It _has_ been awhile. Never mind then."

The bounty hunter used his knife to knock the sword aside and delivered a kick towards Eriks' solar plexus. Eriks caught the kick in his palm and pushed Vaughan back. Instead of falling over, Vaughan flipped and landed in a crouch, pulling out his revolvers at the same time.

"You'll remember soon enough."

 _ **BANG!**_

* * *

 **Location: Within Darwin Forest**

Presley had to give that Erity her props- she definitely knew how to hide. The forest was not very dense, but so far he and the men had found no sign of her.

"Where is she?!" he shouted. "If we don't bring the captain her head on a silver platter, he's going to have mine on one!"

His captain's ire was not his only motivation. He too wanted revenge on Erity for the humiliation she had dealt him. Sure, he now found not wearing pants to be surprisingly comfortable, but it was the principle of the thing. She had defeated him while he was inebriated, stripped him, and _blown up their ship_! They'd had that ship for almost ten years! She was going to pay for all her transgressions against the White Rose Pirates!

"Sorry sir, our Haki users aren't picking anything up," one crewmate apologized. "She might be out of our range already."

"Damn."

"Sir!" another crewman called out, walking up to Presley. "We found this!"

He held up a defunct burn bazooka.

"She was here at least," Presley muttered. He swept out one arm. "Fan out! I want her hunted down like the wild bitch she is!"

"Flattery gets you nowhere," a silky voice cooed.

One of the crew's Haki users' eyes widened. "Sir, she's-!"

" _Soru-Shigan._ "

It happened in the blink of an eye. All thirty members of the crew went down as spouts of blood erupted from their chests. All except Presley, who watched in sheer horror. Once the last man fell, Erity appeared in a quick blur. Her index fingers were bright red with blood.

"Take out your enemy before they can do the same to you," she noted. "That's how your crew handles its enemies, am I right?

"You... you..." Presley stuttered, pointing at her.

"Don't worry, they're not dead," Erity assured him. "They're just unconscious from the physical trauma. I didn't want them to get in the way is all."

Presley said nothing. He simply stared in shock.

"What? Don't you want to fight me? I could have easily taken you down from the shadows- I _was_ trained to be an assassin once upon a time. I just thought you would want a chance to take me on properly. I'm curious to see what kind of warrior the first mate of the White Rose Pirates is when he's not drunk off his ass."

"Still as vulgar as ever, aren't you?" Presley said with a low chuckle. "I'd say it was unbecoming of a lady, but we both know you're not one by birth."

"True, I may not be a man anymore," Erity said with a sniff, "But it would appear despite my physical alterations I _still_ have more balls than you."

Presley responded to this by delivering a 360 degree spin hook into the side of her head, which might have broken her neck had she not put up Iron Body. It did send her flying into a nearby tree though.

Presley smirked and took a stance, but frowned when Erity jumped back to her feet almost immediately and cracked her neck.

She smiled and cracked her knuckles. "Good start, for a pantless pansy."

"Thank you. And you are remarkably proficient in taking a hit," Presley retorted. "For a tranny old hag."

All humor left Erity's face.

* * *

 **Location: Vaughan vs Eriks Fight**

It just went to show that no matter how irritating a person could be, that didn't mean they weren't a capable fighter. Eriks proved this be true just as others had before him.

The pirate had blocked the bullets with his sword and then performed a flying slash attack. Vaughan had avoided it and fired continuously. Eriks managed to block most of the bullets, but a few had grazed him on his shoulders and sides.

"These had better not scar, Enoch," he growled. "And I do wish you would stop holding back."

"What makes you think I am?" Vaughan asked, scowling. Going off the clicking sounds from his revolvers, Eriks assumed they were empty.

"I have heard of your sharp-shooting prowess and I doubt something as simple as a sword would be enough to deter you. You are purposely not shooting to kill me."

"And that's a _bad_ thing?"

"Of course it is, you philistine! When I crush you, I want it to be when you are using all your strength against me! I want you coming at me like you want to eviscerate me, so when I kill you it's all the more humiliating for you!"

"Get used to disappointment," Vaughan said flatly. He tossed guns aside and drew his dagger. "I haven't gone at someone with intent to kill for a _long_ time."

Vaughan charged with almost Soru-caliber speed. Eriks pulled up his sword and guarded. Eriks was put mostly on the defensive, for every time he stabbed back Vaughan bobbed and weaved to avoid it. He even resorted to swapping hands with the dagger if need be.

Eriks scowled and reared back his sword, which suddenly gained a bright sheen to it. " _Petal Dance!_ "

Vaughan's eyes widened slightly as Eriks sent of a volley of flying slashes towards him. The bounty hunter quickly let his Haki take over as he maneuvered around the slashes. He did so in a manner that allowed him to get progressively closer to Eriks, who had not ceased his onslaught. He got close enough that he was able to move behind Eriks and slash at his back.

 _ **SNAP!**_

To say the least after all that effort Vaughan was not expecting his knife to snap in half. He had to jump back before he could wonder why for Eriks had decided to deliver a crescent kick at Vaughan.

Vaughan took a battle ready stance, but glared at the broken knife. "How...?"

Eriks smirked and adjusted his captain's coat, which was now stiff and shiny. "Lovely, isn't it? I bet you're wondering how that knife of yours broke."

Vaughan frowned. "I'm going to say devil fruit. Which one though? It kind of reminds me of the Ripple Ripple Fruit."

"Not quite." Eriks tapped the coat and it once again became ordinary cloth. "I have been blessed with the power of the Hard Hard Fruit! Anything I touch becomes harder and stiffer than the strongest steel!"

Vaughan stared at him blankly. "... There's a dirty joke in there somewhere, but that's beneath me."

"You pig!" Eriks shouted, blushing. "How dare you insinuate such things!"

"I didn't insinuate anything. It isn't my fault your brain went right for the gutter."

"You _swine_!" Eriks ripped up some nearby flowers and threw them. " _Hana Senbon_!"

The flowers, now metallic, raced for Vaughan, who sighed and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a red liquid zipped through air and solidified in front him, acting as a shield. The Hana Senbon bounced off harmlessly.

"What? Where did that come from?" Eriks' eyes narrowed, then rounded. "I-Is that...?"

Vaughan smirked and used his foot to drag a box out from some long grasses. It was filled to the brim with clear plastic packets of...

"... Blood?" Vaughan finished. "Yup. I must say, you kept your infirmary well stocked. Hope you don't mind that I helped myself."

Eriks swallowed, but attempted to smile calmly. "So, this is the power of the Blood Blood Fruit, is it? It figures that an utter barbarian such as yourself would have such a nasty ability."

Vaughan liquefied the shield, letting the sanguine streams swirl and dance around his fingers. "Well... if it works, it works."

"Just what I expected an uncouth dog such as yourself to say," Eriks said smugly. He brandished his sword. "Not everyone can be as refined as-"

"You're not that strong, are you."

Eriks froze at Vaughan's declaration- and it _was_ a declaration. Though phrased as a question, the tone he used made it a fact.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Eriks stammered, confused.

"I've been thinking. For someone who wanted me to fight him at full strength, we've been talking more than actually fighting- you even let yourself get baited by some juvenile humor. Additionally, you hardened your sword before each time you used your flying slash attack. Judging by the strength of your regular strikes, I'd put you at Captain level in the Navy. You make up for your physical weakness with your fruit, which is clever but shows how much you rely on it, which is stupid. You clearly haven't bothered to enhance your own strength, instead relying on your fruit to back you up. You could have easily attacked me when I was behind you, but your gut reaction was to defend. Your fighting skill is _okay_ , at best. But how can this be when you have such a high bounty? Then I remembered that a bounty doesn't necessarily represent a pirate's strength, only the amount of danger they present to the World Government. Your entire M.O is attacking others in large groups before they even think to attack you."

Vaughan flicked his hand and the blood hardened into spikes between his fingers. He leveled his stare at Eriks. "So here's my theory- you haven't been in a real one-on-one fight in years, and after you challenged me in the heat of the moment, you realized how much of a dumbass move that was. Thus you've been stalling me by acting like a big-shot while trying to find a way to get the better of me."

Eriks gaped in shock.

"Your silence tells me I was right on the money." Vaughan rubbed the back of his neck. "And here I gave Erity all this grief about her not being ready to take on New World pirates. By New World standards, you guys are kind of lame. She could have taken you all out by herself and still have time to go drinking. As she would say, disappointment abounds."

The pirate captain went red. "Well, so what?! Just because I'm a little out of practice does not mean I cannot finish you! You are still injured from your duel with the tranny, and aside from scratches I am in perfect health! Therefore I refuse to be defeated by a damaged, uncouth, vile rapscallion like you! I will-"

"I'm out of patience," Vaughan sighed. He raised his hand into the air and all the blood packets beside him exploded. Their contents and the blood spikes he held before rose into the air and joined up into one big glossy sphere when the red-eyed man clenched his fist.

"So am I!" Eriks hollered. He charged with his sword reared back, shiny from the man's powers. "This is it, Enoch! Die! _Hardened Flying Rose!_ "

That sounded like some kind of ultimate attack. Vaughan didn't particularly care- despite what some people saw, battles weren't always long, flashy, and exciting. Sometimes they were quick, anti-climatic affairs. Eriks obviously wanted the opposite. Vaughan didn't care about that either. And while he could have ended this with a simple _Head Rush_ , he decided to show Eriks just to what extent that dumbass move was a dumbass move. Said dumbass deserved it.

He opened his clenched fist.

" _Rain of Carmilla_."

* * *

 **Location: Erity vs Presley Fight**

As Presley went flying through yet another tree, he realized calling Erity old hadn't been the best of ideas. Which should have been evident, really, but Presley had already proven to not be the brightest of individuals.

He got to his feet, wincing when he felt bones move in a way they shouldn't. Ever since he said the _exact wrong thing_ , the newkama had been relentless in her chase. She wasn't even using that speed technique of hers- as if she wanted to hunt him down like an animal instead of a quick demise. He'd overheard something about her having horrible stamina, but if this proved anything, it was that that was a big fat _lie_.

 _I need to get some distance from her,_ he thought. _I need to get some distance and think of a strategy. I need to-_

"GET BACK HERE AND TAKE YOUR BEATING LIKE A REASONABLY FABULOUS MAN!" Erity shrieked, appearing from within the trees.

"DON'T YOU EVER TAKE A _BREAK_?!" Presley shrieked back, breaking into a sprint.

" _NEVER_! WHEN SOMEONE PISSES ME OFF I WILL NEVER STOP CHASING THEM UNTIL THEY _PAY_!"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU'RE TOUCHY ABOUT YOUR FLEETING YOUTH!"

"SHUT UP! I'M ONLY TWENTY SEVEN! _I AM NOT OLD! RANKYAKU!_ "

Presley had the sense to drop to ground before that attack could take his head off. Doing so also made Erity trip over his body and go tumbling into the bushes. The first mate didn't waste any time. He got back up and took off running in a random direction. After running for some time, he finally came to a stop in front of a small waterfall.

"I think... I lost her," Presley panted to himself, putting his hands on his knees.

 _This is insane,_ he thought. _I know my captain's orders are absolute but this woman is completely out of her mind. She's also incredibly strong. I'm good, but she is out of my league! It's... it's not supposed to be like this. Our crew is strongest in a group! We strike down our enemies before they can make themselves a threat. We've never had to do things one-on-one!_ He shook his head. _I need some time to think! I need to think of a way to get out this alive while completing the captain's orders!_

"And here I heard the White Rose Pirates never ran from a fight."

Presley's heart skipped a beat. Cautiously, he turned around to see Erity sitting on top of the waterfall, looking strangely thoughtful.

"You!" he shouted, taking a stance.

"Me," she replied. "You know, for men of your reputation your crew has been so disappointing. You especially. The minute you realized that you had to deal with this nutbar newkama by yourself, all the real fight left you." She leaned forward. "Tell me the truth- you're actually not all that strong, are you."

It was not a question. It was a fact. Presley gulped.

"Oh, I-I'm plenty strong!" he tried to argue. "I have the power of the White Rose Pirates. I'm their first mate, and that is more than enough to defeat the likes of you!"

"Buddy, those are just pretty words if I don't see actions to back them up. Which I haven't, what with you running around like a headless chicken," Erity replied. She examined her nails. "It figures, though. Your crew runs on pack mentality. You think that when you're together you're invincible, and maybe you have been up until now. But I can smell over-compensation a mile away- an ability that stems from my own success issues. From the size of your crew to all those weapons you had on your ship to your favorite strategy of attacking your enemies before they can make a threat of themselves- you guys are not strong, not by New World standards anyway. That's why you stay here at the beginning of the sea and sell slaves, because you know that if you wander into the territory of the New World's superpowers, you'd die. You're not strong, but you try as hard as you can to convince people otherwise."

Presley seethed. This... this freak had seen right through their crew's dynamic! How could she have done so so easily, when others never had?!

"What a letdown," Erity groaned. "Vaughan and I had this whole bonding moment about how we were both strong enough for this enemy. Turns out, we're both _too_ strong. Speaking of Vaughan, I wouldn't be surprised if he already had this figured out too. In any case, knowing what I know now, I have decided you're not worth my continued effort or anger."

"I'm not? Then why did you follow me here?" Presley couldn't help but ask.

Erity stood and gave her best cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. "Because _this._ "

She kicked a rock into the lake below. Five seconds later, a legion of floating piranhas rose into the air from the water. Their beady little eyes were all focused solely on Presley.

"T-T-This..." Presley stuttered.

" _This_ ," Erity interrupted. " _This_ is Darwin Island, the Island of Abnormality where evolution basically gave the middle finger to the rest of the planet. _And..._ "

She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "... _this_ is what I like to call _comeuppance_."

Presley glanced at Erity, then the piranhas, then back at Erity.

Erity went deadpan. "Run."

Presley did just that, screaming for all his worth. The piranha's pursued, soon joined by their fellow floating creatures. Erity shielded her eyes from the sun, watching happily as Presley and the animals vanished into the forest. And never before had there been a more satisfying sight for the bounty hunter.

"That should keep him busy for awhile," she noted. She stretched and looked into the sky. "I wonder if Vaughan's done yet..."

While she had wanted her comeuppance against Presley, she still wanted to break Eriks' perfect teeth. But Vaughan had been very insistent on going against Eriks alone.

 _"You want to beat him alone? No way, I owe him a kick to his family jewels for how he insulted me!" Erity argued._

 _Vaughan winced but remained firm. "I'm going to have to insist. I have some business with White Rose to take care of."_

 _"Forget it! I want to give him what's-" she tried to protest._

 _"Erity."_

 _Erity stopped when she saw the look on Vaughan's face. It was so carefully emotionless it was obviously fake._

 _"Please," he asked her._

 _"... Okay."_

She jumped to the ground and lay down against a tree, putting her arms behind her head.

"Careful out there," she said aloud, as if Vaughan could hear. "I'll be here when you're done."

* * *

 **Location: Vaughan vs Eriks Fight**

Before falling unconscious, the last sensation Eriks could clearly recall was stabbing, agonizing pain. Upon regaining consciousness, the first sensation he felt was that same stabbing, agonizing pain.

And he was tied to a tree. There was that.

"I went ahead and sealed your wounds," Vaughan said, stepping into view. "Couldn't have you bleeding out before I got what I needed."

Eriks snapped into full alertness. The pirate was covered into blood, but the puncture wounds on his body were all scabbed over. He was sure he looked wretched, and it was thanks to that damn bounty hunter. He struggled against the chains keeping him fixed to the tree, but flopped over when he felt the familiar ache of sea prism stone.

"Alright... you have me," Eriks said lowly. "Now what?"

"That's a better attitude than from earlier," Vaughan noticed, surprised. "I was expecting a lot more unbridled rage."

"I have been defeated," Eriks admitted. "I will accept that defeat with elegance. Now, I assume you will turning in my bounty."

"I don't care about that."

Eriks sat up straight. "Excuse me?"

"Well, at _first_ I cared when my boss told me to go after this strong crew on the island," Vaughan explained. "But after I learned which crew you were, I stopped caring about the bounty. That's not what I want from you- I mean, I'll still collect it, but it's not at the forefront of my interests."

"If not for my bounty, for what reason did you fight me?"

"Another thing- I didn't have to fight you. I could have made all the blood rush to your head and ended our fight before it even started."

"You could have?! Why didn't you?!"

"One- because controlling blood while it's still inside the body makes me uncomfortable. I'll only do it if a situation really calls for it. Two- therapeutic reasons. I wanted to fight you to work out some long pent up aggression. Your crew has the been the cause of... hm, let's call it _stres_ s, for me over the years. Of course that went out the window when I realized how weak you guys were." He crossed his arms and frowned poutily. "I've been waiting for this day forever, and now I just feel robbed."

"Oh, that is _it_. Who the _hell_ are you?!" Eriks yelled. "We never met before today, but for some reason you have some beef with my crew! What, did I sell a relative of yours into slavery? Kill your parents and ruin your life?!"

Vaughan didn't even flinch. He simply sighed tiredly and removed his tinted sunglasses. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, then opened them.

Eriks broke into a cold sweat.

 _Red eyes...?_ he thought. _I never got a good look at him back on the ship, and he was wearing sunglasses until now. He has red eyes... I know those eyes..._

It struck him like a lightning bolt.

"No... you?!"

 _Eriks could only stare. He wasn't sure if he should scream in terror or puke in disgust. Maybe both?_

 _He had journeyed from the island's main village to a more remote corner in search of his friend and crewmate, Leif. Leif loved to terrorize islanders and didn't like to leave anyone out. Eriks' father and the rest of crew were already burning the village down anyway- there was more fun to have elsewhere._

 _Eriks had found Leif._

 _Leif was face-down on the ground. A large pool of blood surrounded him, soaking into the grass. The back of his neck was slit open so deeply that it was a miracle the head was still attached. To add to the mess, Leif's back was filled with stab wounds, many of which looked thick and deliberate. Wounds meant to hurt. Wounds that were still being made._

 _Eriks had found Leif, and the_ thing _that had killed him was still stabbing him._

 _At first glance, the creature looked like a small child, no older than seven. It had pale skin that glowed in the firelight of a nearby burning house, and short black hair with bangs that covered its eyes. At second glance, Eriks could see that the creature was covered in his friend's blood, and its back was a mess of blood and horrible burns. It was amazing its shirt was still hanging together. Also, from the angle the creature was sitting, he could see a deep gash on its right cheek that still bled. In its hand it held a long, ornate dagger. Leif's dagger._

 _The creature continued to stab the knife into Leif's back, in a slow, mechanical fashion. Eriks briefly wondered if it even realized Leif was already dead._

 _"Leif," Eriks said in a whisper._

 _The creature stopped stabbing. Then, very slowly, it looked up. The action caused its bangs to fall away and Eriks got his first look at it's eyes._

 _They were_ red _\- dull and dead-looking, but undeniably red. Red like the blood that stained the earth, and seemed to absorb all the light surrounding them. There was no emotion, no life in those eyes._

 _This wasn't a mere_ thing _. This creature was a_ demon _. A demon that had_ murdered _his best friend._

 _The demon looked at Eriks blankly, then at Leif, then back at Eriks._

 _"... Sorry," it droned._

 _Eriks felt something heavy slam into the back of his skull and he knew no more._

"It's _you_!" Eriks exclaimed struggling against his restraints. Sea prism stone be damned. "You're the red-eyed _demon_ from the night of my crew's destruction!"

"Demon? That's a mean thing to call a horribly traumatized little boy," Vaughan deadpanned.

"Traumatized, my foot! _You killed my best friend_!"

"And _you_ burned down my island, along with everyone on it. _Including_ my parents. And yeah, that kind of ruined my life."

Fair point. Eriks suddenly felt very scared. His crew _had_ done that- so why the hell was Vaughan so calm? Shouldn't he be enraged, declaring he would avenge his people or whatever?

"You want revenge, I presume?" Eriks asked carefully.

Vaughan shrugged. "That depends on the answer you give me."

"Answer?"

Vaughan began pacing. "When I was in the Navy, I took the liberty of seeing what intelligence they had on your crew. It said that the original White Rose Pirates operated on the eastern half of the West Blue, and _solely_ in that area. The western half of the sea had a heavy Marine presence- after all, back then the Baby Gold Manhunt had only been a few years earlier, and while that took place in the South Blue, Roger was known to visit that part of the West Blue on occasion. As we all know, the World Government is nothing if not paranoid. You couldn't throw a stick in that side of the sea without hitting a marine. Your father was also paranoid- if he could be a pirate where he would be without fear of Marine interference, he would be there. The reports said nothing short of the forces of hell at his heels would get him to sail to the other side of West Blue."

"That sounds like father," Eriks confirmed. He shook his head. "Hold on, _your_ island was in the western half of the West Blue!"

"Exactly. Which brings me to my question." Vaughan turned to face Eriks. "Taking into account all the information I learned, I have to ask..."

In that moment, the air grew heavy. Despite the sunshine it was as if the world had grown dark. Eriks felt as if something were choking him and someone was stabbing knives into his chest all at the same time. Most prominently, he felt total, primal _fear._ Every cell in his body was yelling at him to _run_ , but he knew that would not save him.

 _I can't move. I can barely even breathe. Is this Conqueror's Haki?_ Eriks thought. _No, this isn't Haki. This is pure killing intent!_

Vaughan knelt down to be eye-level with Eriks. His own red eyes were dark pools of malice that promised untold misery should Erik's answer be the wrong one.

"What. Were you doing. On. My. _Island_?"

* * *

 **That got dark.**

 **The main purpose of this chapter was not only to show how similar Erity and Vaughan are in their way of thinking, but to show a bit of Vaughan's past. His past will be fully revealed in the main story, though not for a while. In the mean time, next chapter is the last installment of _The Blood and the Gauntlet!_ I will then be free to work on the main story. See you soon!**

 _It kind of reminds me of the Ripple Ripple Fruit._

This is the official English name for Diamante's devil fruit.

 _And while he could have ended this with a simple_ Head Rush _..._

That technique is the one Vaughan used on Luffy to knock him out at the end of their fight. It makes all the blood rush to your head and makes you fall unconscious.

 _"Rain of Carmilla."_

For a guy who claims to not be a vampire, Vaughan sure likes referencing them in his attacks. (For example, his attack Bloody Puppet: Transyl Waltz. The 'Transyl' part is a reference to Transylvania, the vampire homeland.) Carmilla is the name of the titular female vampire from Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's gothic novella, _Carmilla_. I didn't say exactly what this attack does because Vaughan will use it in the main story.

 _"NEVER! WHEN SOMEONE PISSES ME OFF I WILL NEVER STOP CHASING THEM UNTIL THEY PAY!"_

As proven with her encounters with Lysopp.

 _Buddy, those are just pretty words if I don't see actions to back them up._

Erity said almost the exact same thing to Nami when they me

 _In that moment, the air grew heavy. Despite the sunshine it was as if the world had grown dark. Eriks felt as if something were choking him and someone was stabbing knives into his chest all at the same time. Most prominently, he felt total, primal fear. Every cell in his body was yelling at him to run, but he knew that would not save him._

That feeling Eriks has? I like to think it's the same one Monet had when facing Zoro back on Punk Hazard.


	6. The Blood and the Gauntlet Final Part

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world of One Piece. Only my OCs.**

 **Last part of** ** _The Blood and the Gauntlet_** **, everyone! I would've had this up sooner if the program hadn't crashed and ERASED WHAT I HAD DONE!**

 **But it's fixed now. But then I wasn't satisfied with what I wrote so I started over a couple times. That seems to be a problem with me. Hope you like the final product.**

 **After this, if all goes well, I will work on the next chapter of the main story next. I actually started on it a while back. Now, let's get this party started!**

* * *

 _ **Final Part**_

* * *

 **Location: The Lucky Penny Tavern, Darwin Island  
Time: Several hours later**

"WOOO-HOOOO, KEEP THEM COMING BARKEEP! I CAN DO THIS ALL NIGHT!" Erity hollered drunkenly, face flushed and swinging her tankard to and fro.

"It's _morning_ , you crazy wench!" the barkeep scolded.

Vaughan sighed from his spot in the bar's entrance. If he'd known this was where Erity was going to go, he would have either gone looking for her sooner or not let her go off alone at all.

Vaughan quickly walked over to the blond woman, who was sitting at the bar and guzzling down another tankard.

"Don't you think it's a _little_ early in the day to be drinking?" he asked, sweatdropping.

"Vaughan!" she squealed, slamming down her mug. She reached over and pulled him into a fierce hug. "Vaughan, Vaughan, Vaughan-y Vaughan! What took you so long, slowpoke!" She poked his forehead. "Poke, poke, slowpoke!"

Vaughan's eye twitched in irritation, but he gently pushed her away. "I took so long because, after dealing with Eriks, I had to track down Presley, who looked like he'd gone a dozen rounds with a Dressrossan Fighting Fish. Any specific reason for that?"

Erity grinned evilly. "Comeuppance. Sweet, sweet comeuppance." She gestured to her impressive pile of empty tankards. "Afterwards I came here to celebrate! I hope you don't mind, but I put it all on your tab!"

"... I don't have a tab."

"Don't worry, I started one here in your name!"

Vaughan groaned and rubbed his tear ducts. He turned to the bartender. "Mind cutting her off?"

The bartender nodded. "Will do."

"Thank you. And can you bring two big glasses of water and a bowl of pretzels over to that booth over there?"

"No problem."

The bartender left to gather the requested items and Vaughan dragged Erity over to the farthest corner booth in the tavern. This was a bit of a hassle because Erity wouldn't stop flailing her arms. But slowly but surely, he managed to get her to the booth and sit down. He gave her a once-over- at least she had had the sense to get her wounds properly patched up before getting piss-faced. He had made some of their injuries scab over earlier, but having an actual medic look at them was a good call. He'd done the same (getting patched up, anyway) when he brought Eriks and Presley back to the Golden Marmoset.

Vaughan grimaced. That hadn't been a fun conversation...

 _"Vaughan, I'm not one to lose my temper," Carrion said calmly. "BUT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU AND WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!"_

 _Vaughan rubbed his ear._ He contradicted himself _..._

 _"Please forgive his outburst, but he has a valid point," Saffron droned in her boring voice. "You left yesterday and are only now returning to us, and you are returning to us wounded. You are also wearing different clothes than from before."_

 _Vaughan looked down at his new jacket. He liked it, but he had also liked his old jacket. He had also_ really _liked that cloak. Then again, maybe it was for the best- Shakky had always said it made him look like a cultist._

 _"So I got a little sidetracked and had to change clothes- big whoop. I brought back White Rose and Black Orchid, didn't I?" Vaughan reasoned._

 _Carrion and Saffron glanced down at the figures sprawled out on the deck._

 _Presley looked pretty bad, but Eriks was a whole other ball park. There was scarcely any skin on his body that wasn't bruised, bleeding, or both. Both his eyes were swollen with black eyes, his nose was completely broken, and he was missing a startling number of teeth._

 _"... You do realize that the bounty drops thirty percent if they die, do you not?" Saffron said, as Carrion was still seething._

 _"Then it's a good thing he isn't dead." Vaughan aid, waving it off. "If the Grand Line has taught me anything, it's that you'd be amazed at what a person can live through."_

 _Carrion glared at him before sighing heavily. "Fine, whatever. I'll send the rest of the men to round up the remaining White Rose crew. Just go see the medic..."_

 _Vaughan nodded and stepped forward to do so._

 _"... and while you're being treated, you can tell me_ exactly _what got you 'sidetracked.'"_

 _Dang it._

Yeah, not fun. Still, that conversation did have an interesting end result... but that was for later. For now, Vaughan had a drunk to tend to.

"Okay, do me a favor and hold still, alright?" Vaughan told Erity.

"Awww, why do I hafta?" Erity slurred.

"Because this will hurt even more otherwise." He thrust out his palm. " _Detox_!"

"GYA-GA-GAH!" Erity cried out as she suddenly fell over onto the ground.

Everyone in the tavern stopped what they doing to see what the commotion was about. Vaughan ignored them and sat down. He began to wait patiently.

The bartender came over with the pretzels and water. "Is... is she okay?"

"She will be. Give it a second," Vaughan replied.

Approximately ten seconds later, Erity was not only up, but she did a handstand and tried to kick Vaughan in the jaw. Vaughan dodged it easily by ducking.

"WHAT THE _HECK_ WAS _THAT_ , JACKASS?!" Erity hollered, once again standing and now grabbing Vaughan by the collar of his shirt.

"Oh, she _is_ fine," the bartender noted. He set down the water and pretzels. "Here's what you asked for. Enjoy."

The bartender walked off and the rest of the bar patrons went back to minding their own business. Vaughan meanwhile, pried Erity's hand away and leaned his forearms on the table.

"That was 'Detox.' I basically just forced your blood through your liver and made you sober up quicker."

Erity raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"Yup."

"Is that even healthy?"

"Probably not. But it was either that or deal with you drunk, so I chose the lesser of two evils."

"HOW IS RISKING MY HEALTH THE LESS- _here_ comes the hangover." Erity sat back down and lay her head on the table, groaning.

Vaughan pushed one of the cups of water towards her. "Drink up."

Erity took a couple sips before turning back to Vaughan. "So how did it go with Eriks?"

"About as well as expected considering how we _grossly_ overestimated his abilities. All that flak for nothing."

"Did you get whatever you wanted from him?"

"What makes you think I wanted something from him?"

Erity popped a pretzel into her mouth. "Why else would ask to handle him alone? But never mind. It's none of my business, and it's not like we're friends or anything. You just seemed a little down is all."

Vaughan chuckled humorlessly. "It's nothing... it's just you don't realize what you have until it's gone is all."

The thing he had that was gone being his ignorance, among other things. Not that ignorance is subjectively a _good_ thing, but part of him wished he hadn't heard what Eriks had so... graciously relayed to him. It only made his life more complicated than it already was and made some of his past life choices look even more unbearable in retrospect. But there was no un-hearing it, so he would have to make do.

"That's stupid," Erity deadpanned.

"Huh?" Vaughan sat up and crossed his arms. "How so?"

"You always have a decent idea of what you have in life. You just never _think_ you're going to lose any of it, and therein lies the disappointment."

"... Isn't that basically what I said but rephrasing it?"

"Shut up, I'm trying to sound cool. The point is you have to expect that you're going to lose everything and mentally prepare yourself for it."

"Like how you lost your chance to collect both White Rose and Black Orchid's bounties?" Vaughan asked, smirking.

Erity paused mid-sip of water. "Pardon?"

"While you were here 'celebrating'," Vaughan explained. "I dragged White Rose and Black Orchid back to my ship. My boss is probably preparing to depart for the nearest Navy base as we speak."

Erity stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "YOU BASTARD!"

"What was that about being prepared to lose what you have? Then again, taking into account that you just left Presley to his own devices, I guess you never had it to begin with." Vaughan shrugged. "Also, parents were married, so not a bastard."

"And we were having such a nice moment too!" Erity fumed. "I can't believe you would cheat me like this!"

"That's not what you're mad about."

"Oh? And what am I mad about, _oh_ wise one?"

"You're mad that I basically weaseled you out of getting in my boss's good graces."

Erity sat back down and whispered, "... Excuse me?"

"I've been thinking about it for awhile. You're good for a rookie. Too good. You said so yourself, you have trained your body to superhuman levels, and you know Rokushiki. Not to mention I came across what you did to the rest of the White Rose crew- quite brutal. You could have easily reclaimed Presley when he escaped the first time. Hell, you probably could've easily escaped those stupid floating animals. Additionally, the only reason you lost Presley and got captured was because I distracted you-"

"So you _admit_ -!"

"Hush, I'm on a roll. As I was saying, in the end you just wanted to stick with me so I could see how strong you were and see how you would defeat White Rose and his crew all by yourself. That way, you would have someone to give Carrion a delightful recommendation when you asked to join his troop."

"What about my success issues and me being outed as a newkama?" Erity asked in a carefully even tone.

"Was honestly not expecting the latter, but it did make beating the snot out of Eriks all the more satisfying," Vaughan admitted. "As for the former, I could tell those were real. Your 'inner' voice' was most distraught. This was your first attempt at bounty hunting, so the fact someone of your ability level was failing miserably at it-"

"Hey!"

"-was incredibly discouraging for you and fueled those aforementioned success issues. In conclusion, you are not as incompetent as you were acting. This whole debacle was a very elaborate ruse to join the Carrion Bounty Hunters, and I was a means to an end."

Erity stared at him for a very long time before sighing. "... I honestly wasn't expecting to run into you personally. I just heard Carrion's crew was at this island and saw an opportunity."

"Uh-huh. And you also have an interest in the Star of Kāla?"

"For personal reasons, yes." She rubbed her tear ducts. "Nice job there, Enoch. Your Haki confirm my true intentions too?"

"Nope. You just did," Vaughan replied cheerfully, and was delighted to see Erity take on a horrified expression. "All I had were vague hunches!"

"WHAT?!" Erity hollered.

"My Kenbunshoku Haki is good, but it's not _that_ good. I'm better at Busoshoku." He smiled. "Even if it were, I don't need to hear your 'inner voice' when your issues were written all over your face back in the storage room. If it makes you feel better, you were more guarded about everything else."

"But you... you sounded so sure..." she trailed off.

"An old tactic I picked up from the Marines. If I sound like I know what I'm talking about, whoever I'm talking to will be more likely to go along with it."

"You... you are _good,_ " Erity said, sounding impressed. "I didn't get a single 'tell' off of you. That's never happened to me before."

"Aren't new experiences lovely?" Vaughan picked up the second glass of water and took a sip. "In any case, you still came to me under false pretenses. You are far too skilled to be some random rookie and your connection to Ivankov is suspicious."

Erity smiled with false friendliness. "True. What are you planning to do about it?"

Going off her tone, his continued existence in the world of the living depended on his answer.

"I already did something. After I gave my report I asked my boss to give you a job. He said yes."

Erity was not expecting that, and she was sure it reflected on her face from the way Vaughan was smiling triumphantly. He had been right- she had stuck with him so he could possibly give a recommendation... at least at first. When their hostility towards each other increased, she had been planning to ditch him until their duel had occurred. Then they had been captured and had their small heart to heart. He was no longer just a means to an end. She was now sticking with him because she genuinely didn't mind being around him. Yes, he was an ass, but his bluntness was kind of refreshing. Still, going off the rumors of his loyalty to Savage Carrion (what a stupid name) and his most recent revelations, she fully expected him to out her to the former Rear Admiral. She would have had to kill him if that were the case. While she was fully prepared to do so, she was hoping she wouldn't have to. Bullet dodged.

"You asked him to give me a job... and he just said yes," she tried to confirm.

" _Weeeelll_ ," Vaughan drawled. "I _may_ have left out the part where you were one of Ivankov's newkama. I hope you have an excuse planned out for your tattoo."

"I do," Erity answered slowly. She shook her head. "I don't get you. If I'm such a suspicious person, why would you go to such lengths for me?"

"Because I only get three pleasures out of life these days. Fighting pirates, earning money, and screwing with that scrub Carrion whenever it suits me."

Okay, so those rumors of loyalty did not pan out. Good to know.

"And having me along without him knowing who or what I really am would be the ultimate screw," Erity asked.

Vaughan nodded.

"... You are a major jerk. You know that, right?"

"As a wise and aggravating man once told me, nice guys don't go far on the Grand Line."

"But you _can_ be nice, kind of. You just got me that job despite being suspicious, and you even gave me that pep talk back on Eriks' ship."

"I didn't give you that pep talk to be nice. I just really can't stand whiny quitters."

"I'm not a quitter!"

"You didn't deny whiny."

"Shut up, Enoch!" Erity barked. She leaned on her forearms. "What about the job? I sincerely doubt you'd risk your neck just to screw with your boss."

Vaughan held up his hands. "You got me- that's just a bonus. As I said, you are a whiny quitter. Since I can't stand those, the only way to make you don't regress is make you come with me. Also, you fight good for a rookie. I want to have a rematch some day, and again, the only way to ensure that is to take you with me."

Erity felt oddly touched (not that she would ever admit it), but she had to be sure. "Really? You're willing to shoulder all these risks just because of that? You know I know Ivankov. What if I'm secretly a Revolutionary trying to infiltrate you guys?"

"I _know_ you're not a Revolutionary because a Revolutionary wouldn't be nearly that stupid and say _that_. Even if you were, as long as you don't get in my way, I have no issues with whatever you plan to do. I'm just a lowly Marine-turned-bounty hunter. It isn't any of my business." He smiled. "And like I said, you fight good and I don't want to see you regress back into a whiny quitter. That should be good enough a reason, don't you think?"

Erity started at him once more, this time for so long Vaughan was actually starting to get worried. However, she put his worries to rest by breaking into laughter.

" _Yuhahahahaha_! I don't get you, Enoch Vaughan! I don't think I ever will! _Yuhahahahaha_!"

"Then can I take that as you accepting the job?" Vaughan asked.

He stood up and held out his hand. Erity smirked and shook it firmly.

"Ah, what the hell," Erity agreed. "It works out in both our favors and I'm willing to put up with a blood-thirsty arrogant brat like you."

"Sounds fair, seeing as keeping you around means I have to put up with a gender-confused old hag like-"

 _ **WHAM!**_

"DON'T CALL ME OLD!" Erity howled as she kicked Vaughan in the face.

The force of the kick was so great, it sent Vaughan flying through the tavern wall and he didn't stop until he landed in the ocean behind the establishment.

Erity stood in the wall's new opening for a few seconds, heaving angrily, when the full weight of her action hit her.

"Crap, he's a devil fruit user." She ran forward towards the water. "HOLD ON, ENOCH! I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

Meanwhile, as Vaughan sank through the water like bag of hammers, he managed to make one coherent thought.

 _This is going to be one long voyage..._

He smiled.

* * *

 **Time: Two weeks before the events of TRD**  
 **Location: Lifeboat hanging next to the Silverback**

"I blame you for this," Erity grumbled.

"How is this my fault?" Vaughan asked.

"It was your idea to go all out."

"You went along with it."

"Had I known Carrion was coming I wouldn't have," she hissed. "And now thanks to that, we have to chisel all the barnacles off the Silverback _by ourselves!_ "

Vaughan looked to the side, examining the wide, long hull of the galleon. He sighed tiredly and starting hacking at another barnacle.

"Still can't believe he got between us like that," Erity muttered bitterly.

Vaughan grunted in agreement, though she really shouldn't be complaining (not that that had ever stopped her). She wasn't the one who took an unexpected swim...

 _Yari came to attention, dropping her book. "No, stop! The ship cannot take an all-out battle royale between the two of you!"_

 _Her pleas went unheard. Both letting loose a battle cry, Erity and Vaughan charged at full throttle at each other, fists reared back._

 _They reentered the ring..._

 _... punched outward..._

 _... and..._

 _"That. Is._ Enough. _"_

 _Before either knew what was happening, meaty hands grabbed the hunters' fists and forced them apart. Erity crashed into the ship's main mast, while Vaughan was sent tumbling over the railing into the water._

 _"Mr. Vaughan!" the rest of the crew shouted in concern. Several members immediately dove in the water after him._

 _Erity rubbed her aching neck as she sat up, only to be greeted with the sight of a deceptively calm Carrion standing in front of her._

 _"Erity," he said._

 _"Yes, boss?" she replied._

 _"Care to explain why you are having a battle royale on my_ very expensive _ship and exposing it to potential damage?"_

 _Erity looked to the side, ready to throw Runo and Yari to the proverbial sharks, only to see they had vanished. They had the sense to make a break for it before it was too late. Cowards._

 _"No sir."_

 _"I see. Then o_ _nce they fish Vaughan out, let's have a review about proper ship conduct."_

 _Erity sighed heavily. Joy._

"If anyone should be doing this, it should be Runo," Erity continued to complain. "The battle royale was his damn idiotic idea."

"But we went along with it," Vaughan pointed out. "So what does that make us?"

"Damn idiots."

Well, she wasn't wrong. Vaughan chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose so. We got excited at the prospect of a rematch and went overboard."

"I still want that rematch, FYI," Erity said as she broke off a barnacle. "Hell, I want a fight that won't be interrupted by either my boss or a flamboyant pirate. That's the whole reason you even got me a job here, right?"

"I distinctly remember also saying something about making sure you didn't regress into a whiny quitter."

"Seeing as I haven't, looks like one of your goals was completed."

"Yeah." He leaned back a little. "Aside from that, we really haven't changed much since we first met, have we?"

"Maybe not, but a lot has happened since then," Erity recalled. "We got the Silverback, Boss hired Yari and Runo, Marco the Phoenix and Blackbeard had that huge battle and it sent pirates scrambling so much that we didn't have any business for months."

"And yet we've been able to remain the same. I can't decide if that's good or bad."

"It depends. You like who you are?"

"At times."

"Then as long you're not causing harm to yourself or others, why does it matter who you are?"

Vaughan smirked. "Wise advice indeed."

"Yeah. It's amazing that I got it from an overly literal moron."

Vaughan shot her a baleful look, which made Erity laugh. They went back to scraping barnacles in silence for twenty minutes before they heard a familiar cawing sound approaching.

"News Coo," Vaughan observed. He turned to Erity. "Your turn to pay."

Erity rolled her eyes but waved the bird down. The News Coo pulled a newspaper from his satchel and gave it to the mohawked woman, who turned tossed it a 500 berry coin. The bird saluted them and flew off to see in anyone else on the ship wanted a paper.

"Okay, what's new in the world today..." Erity said to herself, unfolding the paper. She skimmed it briefly, and upon reaching a certain page her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "SWEET MAIDENHOOD!"

Vaughan was not expecting the sudden shout, and in surprise he reeled back and nearly made the lifeboat tip over. Thankfully he was able to regain balance and grab Erity's shoulder. "What?! What is it?!

Erity shoved the paper in his face. "Look at this!"

Vaughan pulled the newspaper off his face and read the headline.

 _STRAW HAT PIRATES MAKE VIOLENT RETURN! SABAODY ARCHIPELAGO LEFT IN CHAOS!_

"The Straw Hats are back?!" Vaughan shouted. He fist-pumped the air. "I knew it! I knew they weren't dead! In your face, Kizaru!"

"Yuhahaha! Of course they weren't dead! That stubborn lollypop of a pirate wouldn't have been so determined if they had been!" Erity laughed.

"And they wrecked Sabaody! Here we were talking about not changing, and it turns out neither have they!"

"Yuhahaha! I'll say!"

It was truly amazing news. No one had seen hide or hair of the Straw Hat Pirates since their captain's ballsy return to Marineford to ring the Ox Bell two years ago. The world had long thought them to be dead. But if the Straw Hats were good at anything, it was subverting people's expectations of them.

"Wait, why are you so happy?" Erity asked seriously. "You hate pirates."

"I do," Vaughan confirmed without hesitation. "But what can I say? I like the cut of Straw Hat's jib. He's not the type to give up, and this proves it."

"I should've known you would say that," Erity sighed. She rested her chin in her open palm and leaned forward. "You know how Boss feels about Straw Hat. He's going to want to go after him. Are you going to be okay with that?"

Vaughan shrugged. "Hey, what will happen will happen. If that means fighting Straw Hat, so be it."

"I notice you said nothing but actually capturing him," Erity deadpanned. "Fine, be vague. I don't care."

"What about you?"

"What _about_ me?"

Vaughan projected his Haki as cover to any nosy Haki-using listeners and lowered his voice. "Last I checked, Straw Hat busted your queen out of prison, and that stubborn lollypop you mentioned is on the crew. Are _you_ going to be okay with that?"

Erity made a contemplative expression. "I wouldn't mind fighting Sanji again, but I suppose Straw Hat poses a conundrum." She shrugged. "I'll just leave him to you then. That's why we're partners after all- you handle what I can't."

Vaughan inwardly smiled but outwardly scoffed. "So you want me to do all the work. Typical."

"Don't make me sound lazy! If you're so worried about it look at this way- the Straw Hats are very tricky. Even if Boss has us go after them, odds are we won't even come across them."

"That's a reasonable assumption- if what I've heard about Straw Hat is true, he's going to head for the first crazy dangerous island he sees the log pose point to, and Carrion tends to avoid those if he can help it."

"See? We have nothing to worry about, so let's not make a fuss over it."

"Right." Vaughan stretched his arms and lay back in the life boat, opening the newspaper back up. "Still, this could be a good omen. Maybe we'll find Kāla soon."

"Ha!" Erity scoffed, going back to chiseling barnacles. "That's rich. Carrion's been searching for two years and has gotten zilch. I doubt we'll find anything any time soon."

Vaughan glared at her over the edge of the paper, then smiled condescendingly. "One would think you'd be more eager to find it. If this takes any longer you're going to have gray hair to go with those wrinkles-"

 ** _WHAM!_**

Vaughan was interrupted by a sudden punch to the face that sent him flying into the docks. The wood splintered but luckily he didn't fall into the water.

"OW!" Vaughan yelled, sitting up and holding his bleeding nose. "What the hell, Erity?!"

"YOU HAD THAT COMING AND YOU KNOW IT!" Erity shrieked. "I'M STILL TWENTY NINE, YOU JACKASS! I'M NOT OLD!"

"Really?" Vaughan asked with mock surprise. "That's surprising- you punch like my grandmother!"

"YOUR GRANDMOTHER IS DEAD!"

"But if she were alive, you'd punch just like her!"

"GRAAAAAAAH!" Erity hollered. "I HATE YOU, ENOCH VAUGHAN! NO WONDER YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS!"

"I can live with that!" Vaughan called back.

Letting Erity continue to rant and curse, Vaughan pulled the blood off his face with his powers and laid back on the dock.

 _Stupid woman,_ he thought. _I don't have friends by choice. I have to be prepared to lose everything, like Erity said back then. Friends are just a thing to lose. More importantly_ , _I have a goal to fulfill and I stand by that they would be too big a distraction and a liability._

He glanced back at Erity.

"ARE YOU LISTENING, ENOCH?!" she was was shouting. "GET YOUR BUTT UP HERE AND HELP SCRAPE BARNACLES! YOU'RE PUNISHED TOO, YOU KNOW!"

Vaughan laughed- not chuckled, not snorted, but gave one of his genuine, rare laughs.

 _It's a good thing me and Erity aren't friends then._

* * *

 _ **Fin.**_

* * *

 _"That was 'Detox.' I basically just forced your blood through your liver and made you sober up quicker."_

I'm not sure if that would actually work, but let's call it "Artistic License- Biology" for the time being.

 _"It's nothing... it's just you don't realize what you have until it's gone is all."_

 _"You always have a decent idea of what you have in life. You just never_ think _you're going to lose any of it, and therein lies the disappointment."_

 _"... Isn't that basically what I said but rephrasing it?"_

I read a crossover a while back that said something akin to the middle quote (though I have heavily altered it and put my own spin on it so I won't be accused of plagiarism), and while it sounded good, that was about the general reaction I had to it. I decided to throw it in.

 _"An old tactic I picked up from the Marines. If I sound like I know what I'm talking about, whoever I'm talking to will be more likely to go along with it."_

If you recall from the Alabasta Arc, Smoker did this to Mr. 11 to get him to admit to having documents on his person. I figured Vaughan would know to do something similar.

 _"Yuhahahahaha! I don't get you, Enoch Vaughan! I don't think I ever will! Yuhahahahaha!"_

If you recall during "Finding the Rainbow Connection", Erity and Vaughan had a conversation about how Erity doesn't get Vaughan sometimes with his own contradictory behavior. He acts like a jerk but is capable of committing acts of kindness, even if he won't admit it. This conversation is the precursor to that conversation _._


	7. Visigoth Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world of One Piece, only my own OCs.**

 **Okay so I know I said I'd work on the main story after I finished _The Blood and the Gauntlet_ , but this idea was too good to pass up. Good thing its short and quick. ****The idea for this came from a Noodle Incident for Runo and Yari that I have mentioned before in the main story, involving a place called Visigoth Island.**

* * *

 **Title:** Visigoth Aftermath  
 **Rating:** T  
 **Characters:** Baba Runo, Baba Yari, Savage Carrion, Enoch Vaughan  
 **Summary:** Sometimes I don't have to explain what happened. What your minds come up with will be ten times funnier than anything I ever could.

* * *

 **Time: Approximately one month after Runo and Yari joined the Carrion Bounty Hunters**  
 **Location: Aboard the Silverback, waters surrounding Visigoth Island**

Carrion could not decide how he should react to the sight before him. He was torn between bursting into uncontrollable laughter, falling into uncontrollable rage, or simply facepalming in exasperation.

 _And these two came so highly recommended..._ he thought.

Runo had somehow acquired a gorilla suit, and said suit was covered in bursts of color that could have only been gained by running through a storm of paint balls. The suit was missing its head, but this allowed for Runo's face to be visible. His face was now covered in piercings, from studs in his nose to rings on his lips, and going from the redness of his skin they were very painful. He was also wearing a long blond wig done in braids and a large horned viking helmet with the words "Over the Hill" written on it in red letters. He was scowling and kept shooting his sister "you will pay for this in _blood_ " glares.

Speaking of his sister, Yari was in just as bad, if not worse, a state as her brother. She was wearing a leather dominatrix corset over a tattered old-fashioned wedding dress, with a tattered wedding veil and dented tiara to match. She was also wearing neon orange fishing boots and black welding gloves. Her hair stood up straight as if she had stuck her fingers into a light socket, and her face was decked out in so much clown make-up and had a such a big red rubber nose it would make Clown Star Buggy jealous. Unlike her brother, her expression remain completely impassive.

Taking into account their appearances and the fact the island's port was on _fire_...

Carrion sighed. Facepalm it was.

"... Should I ask what happened, or am I better off in ignorance?" Carrion groaned, performing his facepalm and dragging his hand down his face.

The twins immediately both tried to explain, but only succeeded in cutting each other off repeatedly.

"It was Yari's fault! She was with this weird guy-!"

"Excuse me, Runo, you were the one who crashed that birthday-!"

"-and that shotgun wedding-!"

"-how was I supposed to know Clown Star was-!"

"-dragged into that stupid wrestling match-!"

"-Sea Kings, Runo! Freaking Sea Kings with allergies-!"

"-you know the Long Leg Tribes' customs-!"

"- thought the impromptu musical number was all-!"

"ENOUGH!" Carrion roared, silencing the twins. "I've decided to remain in ignorance. Just get yourselves cleaned up and prepare to leave. Vaughan and Erity will be back from their assignment soon enough. And don't expect any more shore leave in the foreseeable future."

"Yes, Boss," they replied in unison.

Carrion nodded firmly and stalked off across the deck to the galley, presumably to get a much needed drink. Once he was gone, Yari turned to her brother.

"This... _this_ never happened," she told him decisively.

"Are you kidding me?!" Runo snapped. "Screw you, sis! There is no way in hell I'm pretending this whole fiasco-"

He was interrupted by Yari grabbing the collar of his gorilla suit and dragging him down to her eye-level.

"This. _Never_. Happened," she stressed out. "I know you won't hypnotize the experience from our memories, so This. _Never._ Happened. Got it, _dear_ brother?"

Runo sighed tiredly and looked away. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. It never happened."

Yari let him go, making him stumble down on to the deck. She stomped away in a huff, opened the trapdoor leading below deck, and jumped down.

Runo stared angrily at the opening, before sighing and rubbing his aching, pierced face. In that moment, a certain red-eyed man hopped over the railing of the ship and landed next to the Alabastan.

"Yikes," Vaughan said, flinching when he got a good look at Runo. "What happened to _you_?"

Runo gave him a long, baleful stare.

"... Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

* * *

 _ **Fin.**_


	8. The Gift That Keeps On Giving

**Some time ago, _Tomorrow's Romance Dawn_ was referenced in _This Bites!_ Well, Cross-Brain, I take your reference and raise you _this_!**

 **(Also, take this as an apology for not updating TRD in forever. I'm actually (hopefully) getting back to that in the coming weeks.)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own _One Piece_ or _This Bites_. Only my respective OCs.**

 _ **SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVE NOT READ**_ **THIS BITES!** _ **YET! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

 **Title:** The Gift That Keeps On Giving  
 **Rating:** M (for Cross's dirty and unavoidable mouth)  
 **Characters:** The Baba Siblings, Carrion, Saffron, Erity, Vaughan, Siobhan and others.  
 **Summary:** When you have a transponder snail that can reach every _other_ transponder snail, certain people are bound to start listening.

* * *

Honestly, when their ship's old transponder snail started making that strange _don don don_ noise, Runo was expecting it to be some kind of malfunction. After all, they'd gotten it second hand from a trading post and Yari was too cheap to buy anything better- something about conserving their bounties so they didn't starve between jobs or in the New World or whatever nonsense she spouted. Still, it was strange enough that he chose to answer it, if only to see what the deal was.

And _holy crap_ , was it a _deal_.

 _"... They can say whether we were there or not, they can claim credit for taking down Crocodile, we don't care. We didn't do it for glory, we didn't do it honor, hell, we didn't even do it for gold, and boy did our navigator give us an earful for that. The point is, the Marines can up our bounties, they can call us criminals, that's all fine, but there's one thing that they're saying that's crossing the line. One thing, one lie… that no matter what, no matter the reasoning, no matter the ends, we cannot—will not—stand for_."

He had no idea who this Cross guy was, but calling out the World Government _and_ the Navy like that took balls of _wootz steel_.

Totally suicidal, sure, but balls nonetheless.

And that was just the big mouth- his entire crew sounded freaking insane. One of the reasons he and his sister left Alabasta was because of how prominent Crocodile became there (no, it wasn't just their banishment, shut up). Skilled as they were, at the time they couldn't compete with a logia-powered warlord. They may have devil fruit powers now and he had already begun to develop the ability called Haki, but getting involved with _that_ freak-nut in any way, shape, or form was just _asking_ for the world to smite you for your stupidity. That was why they'd politely refused (HA!) Croc's offer to join Baroque Works- the fact they were still a little salty about him stealing their business may have also been a factor, but eh, whatever. Point was, they would have never considered taking him on.

The Straw Hats had not only taken him on, but _won_. The News Coo had not been by yet, but Runo was willing to bet there were going to be several new wanted posters ready for his and Yari's perusal. He'd been about to go fetch her and tell her to listen when Cross brought in another speaker.

Princess _freaking_ Nefertari Vivi, who apparently left her kingdom, infiltrated Baroque Works, traveled with clearly not-right-in-the-head pirates (not that he was one to talk in the sanity department), stopped a rebellion, and now...

 _"And now…"_ The princess paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, her voice thick with emotion. " _And now, that is no longer possible. Now, I am forced to flee my kingdom, to abandon my home and my people… to run away once more, with no hope of ever returning… b_ _ecause the World Government has unjustly and erroneously accused me of treason."_

 ** _Ka-lick._**

Runo jumped as a tapered hand hung up the snail.

"Hey!" he protested. "I was still listening to that-!"

"It is poetry. Pure poetry."

It was Yari- she was the only one capable of sneaking up on him. She had one hand still on the receiver and the other holding a stack of bounty posters. Runo glanced at it, and saw the top one was for "Corsair Princess" Nefertari Vivi, wanted "Alive" for 55 million berris.

"Three years ago, we were banished from that sand pit because we endangered Cobra's _precious_ people," she went on, waltzing over to a nearby couch and lounging on it. She admired the poster. "Now his dear daughter must be banished because she _helped_ Cobra's _precious_ people. That, beloved brother, is poetic justice at its finest."

Runo was puzzled at her informativeness for three seconds before realizing she had been listening through the door the whole time.

He raised an eyebrow. "I think the banishment has to do more with the fact she willingly aided and abetted pirates rather than she helped take down a warlord." He paused. "... Then again, the World Government can be unbelievably petty when they want to be. And she's wanted _alive_ to boot- the government only does that if the offender either has enemies in high places or did something _especially_ piss-off worthy."

"You are not wrong, but far from the point. The Nefertaris' overly altruistic and _soft_ nature has effectively led to the end of their reign. There is no way the government will recognize a pirate as a legitimate ruler, so our former princess has to go." She grinned. "I warned Cobra that Alabasta was going under... and, granted, while this is not exactly how I imagined it, it is just as satisfying. I am sure that _darling_ country of his will be _ecstatic_."

"I know Cobra won't. Wish I could've seen the look on his face when he got the news." Runo joined his sister on the couch and propped his arms behind his head. "Still, gotta give the princess and her pirate pals their props. Not just anyone can infiltrate or take down a criminal organization- especially one run by Crocodile."

Yari sniffed. "Please. If Crocodile allowed himself to be defeated by a group of rookies, then we clearly overestimated his abilities as both a warrior and a pirate. I would not be surprised if all that lounging around in Rain Dinners made his sand go as soft as Cobra's bleeding heart."

"Yeah, Alabasta's sand was pretty soft," Runo noted absently, not quite hearing his sister's statement. He noticed Yari glaring at him and quickly added, "Not that I miss it! I don't!"

Yari nodded and started leafing through the rest of the wanted posters. Runo looked over her shoulder and whistled when he saw Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro's bounties.

"Rookie or not, you can't deny the Straw Hats' gumption. Those are some impressive second and first bounties," Runo observed. His smile gained a feral edge. "Whaddya say we pay them a visit? Maybe even say hi to the princess and let her know _exactly_ what we thought of our banishment."

"No," Yari deadpanned.

Runo nearly fell off the couch. _Yari_ didn't want to target possibly strong foes _or_ get some long-desired payback? _Yari_?!

"Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" he asked seriously. "And when can I compensate you for your trouble?"

She smacked his shoulder, ignoring the wince that followed. "I was not _finished_ , Runo. I meant _no_ , we will not be paying the Straw Hats a visit _for the time being._ At this moment, _they_ are still in Alabasta and it will not be long before _we_ pass through Sabaody Archipelago. To go after them now would mean backtracking to the beginning of Paradise, and really, who has time for that?"

"... Fair point."

"Additionally, it would be far more advantageous for us if we wait." She pointed at the transponder snail. "That man who was speaking earlier. Cross, I believe? He is dangerous- he has no filter and is obviously not afraid of any backlash from the World Government. He will keep airing the Navy and the Five Elder Stars' dirty laundry and in turn keep digging his crew's grave deeper. He and his crew will be deemed a continually growing threat, and what does the government do with those they deem a threat?"

Runo thought about it, then his pupils became solid gold berri symbols with a loud _ka-ching_!

"Exactly," Yari confirmed. "Not only that, but by allowing them to transverse more of the Grand Line, they will all have the opportunity to grow strong and become a better challenge for us. We would not want to waste our time on weak enemies, would we?"

"Hell no!" Runo answered enthusiastically.

"I thought so. True, waiting runs the risk of the Navy getting to them first, but though Cross has a blatant death wish, I can tell he is somewhat intelligent. His brain and his captain's brawn should keep the crew afloat for awhile, at least."

"Does this mean we're not heading to the New World after all?" Runo asked.

"I am willing to discuss that further. Personally, I am for setting up shop on Sabaody for a few months," Yari admitted. "There will be plenty of pirates to fight and you will have more time to refine your Haki. When the Straw Hats inevitably arrive, we can take them on then."

"Hmmm," Runo hummed, ruminating the idea. "Not a fan of the idea of living in Celestial Dragon territory, but the pay off would be almost worth it."

"We do not have to decide now," she reminded him. "Like I said, we can discuss it further later."

"Sounds good to me, sis."

They did end up talking more about it at dinner that night, and made the decision to remain on Sabaody for the next few months to wait for the Straw Hats to arrive. Not long after their meal, a News Coo came by with the late evening edition which detailed what occurred after Yari hung up the first SBS broadcast; Cross (or more accurately, the World Government, but Cross did the whistle-blowing) had made Alabasta go _revolutionary_.

Yari almost choked on dessert and Runo laughed until he ran port side to puke.

If the top brass in the Marines didn't want Cross and the Straw Hats' heads on a collective pike before, then they sure as hell would now. And given their overall character, it was only going to get worse from here.

The Baba Twins couldn't wait for the next broadcast to see.

 **三**

 _"... Let's start at the very top of this horror show. I speak of Level 1 of 5... The Crimson Hell."_

Rear Admiral Savage Carrion's face was carefully blank. Saffron watched him with a similar expression; only hers carried a hint of concern. That was the most outward emotion she was capable of.

"Sir?" she spoke up.

Carrion said nothing. His focus remained entirely on the transponder snail, which bore an infuriatingly smug expression.

 _"You hear that? That sound was a million and one Marine officers around the world simultaneously voiding their bowels. Surprise, you sons of bitches: I'm not bluffing."_

 _"_ ** _HOW YOU_ like us** _NOW_ , HUH _?!"_

At that, Saffron discretely glanced down at the seat of Carrion's chair.

"I did no such thing Saffron," he said at last.

"Of course not, sir," Saffron said, straightening out. "If I may be frank, you are being oddly calm about this, sir."

"... I'm okay with this."

"You are?"

"Yes. While the fact he's airing private information deserves some consternation, the public learning this could make for a powerful deterrent," Carrion replied. "If potential criminals know exactly what awaits them should they turn to piracy, then they will be discouraged from doing so. It's a silver lining and the Navy should embrace it."

Saffron gave her superior a wary look (or about as wary as she could manage.) It wasn't like the Rear Admiral to be so optimistic, especially where pirates were concerned.

"... Seriously?" she asked cautiously.

Before Carrion could make any sort of assurance, Cross did what he apparently did best- open his damn mouth.

 _"... Before we resume our documentary, I felt it only appropriate that we offer a tip of the hat and a flip of the bird to the primary wardens of the Government's illustrious negative-five star human roach motel. Domino, Saldeath, Hannyabal, Sadi, all of you sadistic fuckers take a bow! But, of course, let's not forget the king of this shitshow, the good Warden Magellan! Without this fine, upstanding bastard's inventive applications of the Venom-Venom Fruit—again, that is the Venom-Venom Fruit, which allows the user to produce a myriad of poisons and toxins from their body—I imagine that countless individuals would have suffered much less painful and much less agonizing demises. Let's give the demons of the World Government's man-made hell a hand, folks, a big big big hand!_ "

It took every ingrained reflex Saffron had to dodge the rain of splinters that erupted when Carrion smashed his desk.

"SCREW SILVER LININGS, I AM GOING TO VIVISECT THAT BASTARD MYSELF!" Carrion roared.

Saffron lowered the clipboard she had used as a shield. "So... _not_ seriously then?"

Carrion ignored her as he stepped over the broken remains of the furniture and grabbed his Navy coat off the rack in the corner. "Hold my calls, Saffron! I refuse to let this little turd get away with dragging the Navy's good name through the mud like this! I will go after him myself if it means I can shut his bloody mouth!"

"You seem to be unusually passionate about this, sir," Saffron said with her best approximation of confusion. "I know Jeremiah Cross has released very sensitive information, but in all the time I've known you, I've never-"

"I'm passionate about this, Saffron, because men like that? They're matches in an oil refinery," Carrion growled. "He's going to set everything ablaze and soon enough the Marines will have more dissenters than we can deal with. We do not yet have the weapon needed that can prevent this. Thus Cross is a flame that _must_ be snuffed out _whatever way possible_."

With a dramatic flutter of his coat, Carrion marched out of his office, slamming the door behind him.

Saffron blinked a couple times, trying to process the conversation. She then shrugged and sat down to listen to the rest of the broadcast. Cleaning up the desk's remains could wait, and despite everything Cross was a very entertaining speaker.

Meanwhile, as Carrion made the long trek to Sengoku's office (and blocked out the sound of Garp's uncontrollable laughter echoing through the halls), he allowed a calculating smile to grace his lips.

 _Matches and oil aside, one has to wonder how that boy is so well informed,_ he thought. _Could he have a contact in the Navy? Or does he have some other source? What else could he possibly know?_ _Hopefully Sengoku will allow my request to go after him. I'd like to..._ speak _with Jeremiah Cross one-on-one, if possible. If he's going to start the fire, I'm going to make sure it burns in_ our _direction._

The smile grew until it became near-maniacal.

 _It's a long-shot, but depending on what else he knows, he may be the key to my promotion_ _and the end of the Great Pirate Era._

 **三**

 _"Wait, you mean the whole_ wowld's _been wistening to this nightmawe!?"_

 _"What the hell, slimeball!?"_

 _" **I'm sorry, I was too busy** **with the fact that** MY BEST FRIEND WAS **GETTING TORTURED AND** **ALMOST DIED!"**_

 _"Might still die if you don't all_ shut up and let me work in peace! _AND NO, I'M NOT AMPING AGAIN! Give me that!"_

 _ **Ka-lick!**_

"Ms. Shakuyaku, do you ever feel inadequate?"

It was such a random question that it took Shakky several seconds to realize it had been asked. She was still reeling from the live-broadcast of Cross's life-saving surgery and thankful someone _finally_ noticed the mic was still on. She glanced to the stool in front of her bar counter, where Enoch Vaughan sat and stared into his mug presumably to avoid making eye contact with anyone. It was easy enough- he and Shakky were the only ones in the bar at the moment.

"Sorry, Enoch-chan, but I'm not exactly sure what you're asking me."

Vaughan gestured to the Rip-Off Bar's transponder snail without looking away from his alcohol.

"I'm asking if you've ever felt inadequate because of what someone else has done. What they did make you rethink all of your life choices up to that point- and once you've rethought it, it makes every action you've ever taken feel _freaking_ cheap. Therefore you feel like an inadequate excuse for a human being because you didn't have the will to do what they did and you regret it." He finally looked up and gave Shakky a dry glare. "Have you _ever_ felt like that?"

Shakky thought about it, then shook her head. "I can't say that I have. Why do you ask?"

"I ask because that's how I feel right now thanks to _Jeremiah FREAKING CROSS_!"

He stood up and without warning he hurled his mug to the ground, shattering it. He started pacing around the bar, agitatedly running his hand through his hair. It was a sight to behold- Vaughan had never lost his temper in the entire time Shakky had known him.

Shakky glanced down at the ceramic shards. "... You're paying for that."

"Not the time!" Vaughan barked.

Shakky crossed her arms. "No need to snap. And if you don't want me to throw you out for property damage, I'm going to need a better answer. What does Cross-chan have to do with anything?"

"That... that... _arghh_ , I don't they've invented a word to describe someone like him!" Vaughan took a calming breath before pointing at the snail. "That _whatever_ didn't give up. He was being tortured with electricity- which I know from experience hurts like the grandstanding _queen_ of bitches- and he just kept. On. Talking! Death was staring him in the face and he _didn't give up_!"

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Of course not! What pisses me off is if his own imminent _demise_ won't make _him_ quit, then what does it say about me that I let something as _asinine_ as _discouragement_ make _me_ quit?!"

Having made that declaration, Vaughan dropped to ground, sitting cross-legged and squeezing the bridge of his nose. He looked both tired and as if he had aged ten years in ten minutes.

Shakky listened to him mutter angrily to himself for a few minutes before getting out from behind the counter and joining him on the floor. She placed a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to look up. His normally vivid red eyes were dull.

"What did you quit?" she asked gently. "Are you regretting leaving the Navy?"

Vaughan gave her a bitter smile. "Nah, after I learned what they did I was happy to go. I never should have joined them to begin with."

He frowned in contemplation, obviously trying to decide if he should continue. Shakky hoped he would- though the young man was a bounty hunter and an ex-Marine, she and Rayleigh had grown rather fond of him in the years since he came to Sabaody. He never talked about his past unless he was drunk, and even then it was never much. He had a right to his privacy, but right now he was clearly hurting because of whatever memories Cross's ordeal had brought up.

And he did. Vaughan told her everything- about the mysterious island of Kāla (why did that sound familiar?), of his family's goals, and how he came to give up on those goals. They must have been sitting on the ground for hours, but Shakky didn't move or speak until Vaughan had said his piece.

"You do realize your and Cross's situations are hardly similar, right?" Shakky asked him once he finished.

"I do. Doesn't change how I feel, though," Vaughan admitted. "It's the principle of the thing. He didn't give up and more or less did his crew proud. I gave up and dishonored my entire family _and_ everything they'd spent centuries working for."

"I see." Shakky stood up. "What are you going to do about it?"

Vaughan squeezed the bridge of his nose again, remaining on the ground. "I don't know. I need time to process this. It's not every day my entire life view as I know it goes through a massive upheaval." He let go of his nose and rest his chin in his palm, frowning petulantly. "I swear, if I ever meet that loud mouth in person, I'm decking him for putting me through this."

"If that will make you feel better, by all means, deck away. Just be sure to let me and Rayleigh-san serve him and his crew a drink first," Shakky said with a smile. She reached behind the bar and pulled out a dust pan and hand-broom. "While you're on the floor, mind cleaning up the mug you broke?"

It wasn't actually a request, and both adults knew it- Vaughan accepted the cleaning implements and got to work. After five minutes of silence and tossing the mug's pieces in the trash, he sat back at the counter and slapped down a wad of berris. Shakky took the money and got him a fresh mug of rum.

"So, when's Dark King coming back?" Vaughan asked with faux-casualness.

"Who knows with him?" Shakky said with a shrug, leaning on the counter. "But he's been coming round more often since the SBS started up, so it could be any day now."

"Good. I have to ask him something."

"Is that 'something' about that legendary island you're so interested in, Enoch-chan?"

Had she asked this even a couple hours ago, Vaughan would have twitched in irritation and denied it, while also grunting that it wasn't any of her business. Today, however, he just smiled wearily and sipped his booze.

"It couldn't hurt," he said. "At this point, all I have left to lose in pursuing my goals is my life. If a filthy pirate can wager that much against a pseudo- _god_ , I can at least do the same."

It wasn't long after that Shakky's transponder snail started going _don don don_ , announcing another SBS broadcast. She answered it and the pair was greeted with the most beautiful, _haunting_ sound either had ever heard, coupled with Straw Hat Luffy's excited declaration that the City of Gold had existed all along. Whoever Cricket was, he had to be overjoyed.

Vaughan had to admit, overall the Straw Hat crew wasn't half-bad. For pirates, anyway.

Even that big-mouthed jackass.

The bounty hunter still had much to consider, but thanks to the Straw Hat's third mate, his life felt like it was _going_ somewhere for the first time in years. He was genuinely grateful for that, and would pay it forward when the time came.

Vaughan was still gonna deck him, though.

 **三**

"Yuhahahahahahahaha! _Yuhahahahahahahaha_!"

"How long has she been like this?" Substitute Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom, Caroline, asked with a yawn. It was truly an abysmal hour.

"Since the start of the new SBS broadcast, your queenliness," Tibany answered. "The minute Cross-boy said his crew was attacking Enies Lobby, she started howling with laughter. She hasn't even stopped to breathe."

The howler in question was the lovely blond okama on the floor in front of the castle Den Den, who was guffawing and pounding the tiles with her fist. Her long, luxurious honey locks hung around her face like a curtain and she was still wearing her teal slip pajamas. She was red-faced and obviously oxygen-starved, but she showed no signs of ceasing.

"Yuhahahahahahahaha!" she went on, her baritone laughter resounding across the room. (With Ivankov gone, poor thing hadn't been able to make the complete transformation she desired yet. Caroline didn't think she needed it, but it was what she wanted.) " _Yuhahahahahahahaha_!"

"Erity, it's shocking but it's not that funny!" Caroline chided her. "Cross-boy's crew is taking a huge risk-"

Erity, at long last, stopped laughing long enough to listen to what Jeremiah Cross had to say next. Caroline and Tibany could hear her wheezing in between his words.

"... _you touch one of ours?"_ Cross asked rhetorically. "We fuck you up. _This goes beyond a mere rescue mission, this… this is nothing short of a_ crusade. _We are going to_ pummel _the men stationed here. We are going to_ take back _our archaeologist. And besides making the World Government look like the_ idiots _they are in the process? We are going to burn this fucking island_ TO THE GODDAMN BEDROCK _AND CAST IT INTO THE FUCKING ABYSS IT'S HANGING OVER, SENDING IT RIGHT BACK TO WHERE IT FUCKING BELONGS!_ WHO'S WITH ME _!?"_

 ** _"YEAH!"_** the veritable chorus of distorted voices cheered simultaneously.

That did it. With renewed fervor, Erity broke into another fit of laughter, even louder and more obnoxious than the last.

"YUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! _YUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA_!"

These hysterics would eventually quiet down and Erity would be able to fully relish the madness that was the Straw Hat Attack on Enies Lobby. But for now, Erity was ignoring her acting leader and savoring the moment.

The Straw Hat Pirates (those amazing, wonderful, _improbable_ people) were laying siege to _Enies Lobby_ , and they going to totally _obliterate_ it.

Never had Erity been more assured about her "decision" to leave CP9. She would _not_ want to be on that crew's bad side. She only wished she could see the look on Spandam's face right now- she'd heard from Iva-sama's associates that that spoiled, panda-faced bastard became the leader of CP9 after her "departure," and now his precious island and precious CP9 was going to be _torn_ from his greasy little hands.

Erity continued to laugh. _This_ was going to be _epic_.

 **三**

She hadn't thought much of it at the time.

All sorts of crap washed up on Kāla; clothes, jewelry, bits of technology, furniture. Siobhan once found an entire chest of scholarly textbooks on the beach and had been giving herself an education ever since.

So when a cage carrying a big, miserable-looking snail turned up, Siobhan barely batted an eye. She cleaned the seawater off it and it's odd mechanical parts, and once she decided eating it was a major _no_ , she kept it in her treehouse as a pet. Though utterly silent, little creature had a wide range of emotion and a degree of sentience, making her feel a little less lonely. (Not that she was. She wasn't lonely and you couldn't convince her otherwise.)

Then one day, something changed.

She had been weaving a basket in on her balcony when Gary (the name she gave the snail) started vocalizing the oddest sound. Sort of a _don, don, don_ noise emerged from it's mouth. Siobhan had briefly panicked, thinking something was wrong, when Gary, with his eye stalks, pointed at the boxy thing on a wire that was attached to him. She'd lifted it off its hook and Gary started speaking in a completely new voice.

That was first time Siobhan listened to Jeremiah Cross... and learned that Gary was actually communication device. Who knew?

The broadcasts themselves were a tad sporadic, given Kāla's inability to stay in one place or time. Additionally, she might have been either hearing them out of order or missing some altogether, but she got the gist of what Cross was talking about.

Through Cross she learned about the Great Pirate Era, the World Government (jerks), surfing octopi, sky islands, that the terror of the Lily Carnation still existed in the "Grand Line" (that was what they were calling it now), and the close-knit crew that was the Straw Hat Pirates. Each adventure was more wondrous than the last, and soon enough listening to the SBS became Siobhan's favorite part of any day.

It was obvious these broadcasts were coming from a faraway point in time, as when she brought the SBS up to some of her visitors they had no idea what she was talking about. The SBS also never came on whenever she _had_ visitors, which was disappointing. Cross could be an irritating SOB but he was someone that needed to be shared.

However, as much as Siobhan loved the SBS and the Straw Hats, listening also made her hypothetical loneliness increase- such as now.

" _Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew. Sing a song, and play along for all the oceans wide.._." she sang along with the snail.

She had never heard this song before. She only knew the words because it had appeared in one of the books she'd found over the years.

There were so many things she had never heard. There were so many things she'd never seen. Things she'd never done, places she'd never gone, people she'd never met. Cross, his radio show, and by extension all the visitors she had ever received reminded her of that.

...She _wanted_ those things. She wanted to sing pirates songs and visit sky islands and surf and kick Navy butt and everything and more, just like Straw Hats had done. Just like the Straw Hats were _doing_.

" _After all is said and done, you'll end up a skeleton. So spread your tale from dawn 'til dusk upon these foamy seas!_ "

But she couldn't. Siobhan couldn't do those things because she had to stay here and guard Kāla's damn "treasure." By herself. Alone. It wasn't like any of her visitors could stay, and with every passing day Saatatya's promise grew ever more unlikely.

Tears began to drip down Siobhan's cheeks.

" _Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo! Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo! Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo! Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo! Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hooooooo…_ "

She shook her head furiously, scrubbing away the salty droplets with her wrist. Without a moment of hesitation, she snatched up the receiver and punched in a number she'd memorized several broadcasts ago. She had no idea if it would actually work, but...

" _Dot dot dot dot!_ "

 _"Hold up, looks like we got a caller!"_ There was a click. " _Hello, you're live on the SBS! Here to join the party?_ '

Siobhan stared at the snail, not saying anything for several long moments.

" _Hello? Anyone there?_ "

"... Jeremiah Cross?"

" _Yeah, that's me!_ "

Siobhan swallowed, and despite her efforts tears spilled out again.

"... Thank you, for all of this. I hope I get to meet you guys some day."

" _What-?_ "

Siobhan hung up the receiver and Gary closed his eyes. She then turned around and threw herself onto her bed, sobbing into her pillows. She stayed this way through several night and day periods until she had no more tears to shed.

Finally, Siobhan got up and left the treehouse. She went to the nearby waterfall and splashed cold water in her face. She continued to do so until all puffiness around her eyes faded and the only redness left was from the icy water.

"Pull yourself together, Siobhan," she told herself. "You're allowed one breakdown a year, and this was it. No more. Pull yourself together."

She stood and dried her face on a giant leaf. Though she was much calmer now, her nerves still felt frayed from the downpour of emotion she just experienced. She needed something to distract her thoughts. She supposed she could get to work on the backlog of chores she undoubtedly had now, but she knew it wouldn't keep her mind occupied for long. She needed something interesting, something mentally stimulating, something...

... Oh.

... _Oh_.

... Man, did Kāla know when to deliver or what?

Grinning like a loon, Siobhan ran through the jungle, taking all her special shortcuts, until she found herself on the pink sands of the beach. Just as she arrived, the form of a large ship emerged through the distant fog. She shielded her eyes from the sun in order to get a better look. It was a large ship with three masts, burgundy-painted wood, and two mermaids as the figurehead. It's jolly roger was a cartoony-looking skull with an impressive curly mustache.

She waved her arms in the air and shouted, "Ahoy there!"

There were multiple unintelligible calls in response. Siobhan went on waving her arms and laughing as the ship sailed closer. She may never do the marvelous things Cross and his crew did, but at least she had her island, her snail, and her visitors.

For now, that was enough.

(And maybe one day she'll even believe it.)

 **三**

 **BONUS**

 **三**

Cross blinked stupidly at the scene before him.

One minute he, Soundbite, and Lassoo were being chased through Sabaody Archipelago by a pair of psycho purple-haired bounty hunters. The male one had somehow knocked Funkfreed out and nearly did the same to the third mate if Soundbite hadn't cut off the sound and he hadn't used a flash dial to distract him. The pair had plugged their own ears with wax and were able to dodge Lassoo's shots with ease. They had to have Observation Haki or Cross would eat his hat.

Then all of a sudden the hunters had fallen to the ground, unconscious. Before he could fully react to that, a fist came out of nowhere, punched him in the face, and knocked him to the resin-coated ground. Now standing over all of them and giving Cross a pleasant smile was a tall, pale man with red eyes and dark cloak.

"Sorry for the delay!" he apologized, helping Cross stand and handing him Funkfreed's sword. "I wanted to see how well you could handle them before I stepped in. I'd also apologize for decking you, but trust me, you had that coming."

"Uh..." Cross groaned with confusion, rubbing his aching nose. Even Soundbite had nothing to say for the first time _ever_.

"I call that move Head Rush. As the name implies, I make all the blood rush to their heads and they pass out. I typically try to avoid manipulating blood while it's still in the body, but I figured this was quickest way to save you." He pointed a slender finger at Cross. "Now, if I'm correct, you are 'Voices of Anarchy' Jeremiah Cross and Soundbite. Huge fan of the SBS, by the way. I believe you may have some information for me."

Cross said nothing, still in a kind of stupor.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Huh. You're a lot quieter in person. Okay, I can work with that." He placed his hands on his hips. "At any rate, allow me to introduce myself. My name is-"

"Enoch 'Blood King' Vaughan," Cross interjected in a dead tone. "Wielder of the Blood Blood Fruit, bounty hunter, former Navy Rear Admiral, and overly literal."

Vaughan's eyes widened with surprise, then he sighed with acceptance. "Yeah, I should have figured you already knew of me. You're crazy-informed and honestly, I'm banking on that. I was hoping that- what are you doing?"

Cross had set down his animal companions and was marching over to the nearest mangrove trunk.

He stopped and gave a Vaughan a weak smile. "Just... just give me a minute."

Vaughan could only watch in extreme bewilderment as Cross proceeded to bang his head against the tree. He didn't stop for half an hour, and the whole time muttered under his breath about someone called B.R.O.B.

Vaughan made the wise decision not to ask.

* * *

 **I'm not the best proofreader, so if you see any other errors, tell me in a PM please!**

 **This was really fun to write! I always ask myself how my characters would react to Cross and Soundbite's shenanigans, and after the "Fluffy McFluffmeister" shout out I got a million years ago, I decided to run with it. This has been half-finished for weeks, and now that I'm on my summer break, I was able to complete it. Assuming my schedule remains clear, I should be getting back to the main story after I'm done with the edits! Stay tuned!**

 **Oh, and Cross-Brain? I dare you to outdo me on this.**

 **Notes**

 _I warned Cobra that Alabasta was going under... and, granted, while this is not entirely how I imagined it, it is just as satisfying..._

See TRD's 200 Review Special for details!

 _I was not finished yet, Runo. I meant no, we will not be paying the Straw Hats a visit for the time being. At this moment they are still in Alabasta and it will not be long before we pass through Sabaody Archipelago._

At the end of that review special section, Yari told Runo they were heading for the New World. In the last three or so years, the twins thought it would be prudent to build up their strength before going, so they traveled around Paradise to do so. As Runo mentioned, they got their devil fruits and have learned Haki. In the original timeline, they went into the New World not long after the Straw Hats beat Crocodile. Here, they decide to wait thanks to Cross altering story canon.

 _It's a long-shot, but depending on what else he knows, he may be the key to my promotion_ _and the end of the Great Pirate Era._

In the original timeline, Carrion- at this point- did not think much of the Straw Hats beyond "Garp's damn grandson is going to be a pain in our asses." However, Carrion both wants to annihilate pirates and rise in the ranks, the latter so he can get the resources he needs to track down the Star of Kāla and destroy pirates even more. Now he sees Cross as a resource to do all that. You know, provided Cross doesn't make things worse for him.

And he totally does. Let's just say Carrion was at Enies Lobby and leave it at that.

 _And he did. Vaughan told her everything- about the mysterious island of Kāla, of his family's goals, and how he had come to give up on those goals. They must have been sitting on the ground for hours, but Shakky didn't move or speak until Vaughan had said his piece._

I left this vague on purpose. The exact circumstances of Vaughan giving up on his goals will revealed in the main story in due time. And while I'm here, Cross confronting Eneru jumpstarted Vaughan's realization by a few months. In the original timeline, Vaughan didn't regain his resolve until after Marineford. Also in that timeline, he never got the chance to talk to Rayleigh about Kāla. In this timeline, on the other hand...

 _Siobhan once found an entire chest of scholarly textbooks on the beach and had been giving herself an education ever since._

If any of you have been wondering why a twelve-year-old sounds so mature and knowledgeable, this is why. Siobhan has always been mature for her age, and she reads a lot. Her visitors also teach her things sometimes.

 _Vaughan could only watch in extreme bewilderment as Cross proceeded to bang his head against the tree._

The members of Cross-Brain have read my fic, so I think it's safe to assume Cross has read it as well. And it would absolutely _kill_ him to see one of my OCs are actually real.


End file.
